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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26733061">Manners maketh man</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ailendolin/pseuds/Ailendolin'>Ailendolin</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>1917 (Movie 2019)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Kingsman Fusion, Canon-Typical Violence, Disabled Character, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Injury Recovery, Kidnapping, Kingsman Training, M/M, Major Character Injury, Spies &amp; Secret Agents, Whump, Whumptober 2020, amputee William Schofield</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 11:07:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>32,242</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26733061</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ailendolin/pseuds/Ailendolin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <b>Kingsman / spy AU in which Will is a secret agent that sets out on a mission to save Joe's life and turns his own upside down along the way.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Aka he meets Tom and falls in love.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Written for Whumptober 2020: 31 prompts - 31 days - 31 chapters. </b>
</p><p>
  <i>"No,” Arthur says. “Agent Lancelot, should he indeed still be alive, is on his own, I’m afraid.”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Leslie’s expression darkens more and more with every word he hears. By the time Arthur has finished he looks ready to murder him with his bare hands.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“What if we drop off someone outside of the restricted area and deliver the message in person?” Will asks in an attempt to diffuse the tension in the room.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Arthur gives him a long, hard look. “Are you volunteering, Agent Galahad?”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Will swallows. “Yes, sir, I am.”</i>
</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Joseph Blake &amp; Tom Blake, Joseph Blake &amp; William Schofield, Joseph Blake/Lieutenant Leslie, Lieutenant Leslie &amp; William Schofield, Tom Blake &amp; Lieutenant Leslie, Tom Blake &amp; William Schofield, Tom Blake/William Schofield</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>156</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>63</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1: Left for dead (Prompt No. 31)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is my first time writing for Whumptober. I didn't fill the prompts in order since my main goal was to tell one big story by using one prompt for each chapter. The result is this Kingsman AU for 1917. The story is organized into five different parts containing five chapters each (six in one case) and I will post one chapter every day.</p><p>No knowledge of Kingsman is required to understand the story except that Kingsman is a secret service organization that uses codenames taken from Arthurian legend. The characters in this chapter as well as their codenames are the following: </p><p>Will - Agent Galahad<br/>Leslie - Agent Percival<br/>Joe - Agent Lancelot<br/>Erinmore - Arthur (Head of Kingsman)<br/>Lauri - Agent Martinique (French liaison)</p><p>tw: swearing</p><p>I am not a native speaker so please forgive any mistakes I overlooked (and don't hesitate to point them out to me).</p><p>Disclaimer: I own neither 1917 nor Kingsman and make no money with this. The quote "Down to Gehenna or up to the Throne – He travels the fastest who travels alone" is by Rudyard Kipling and was also used in the film 1917.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Manners maketh man</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Part 1: Lancelot</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Chapter 1: Left for dead (Prompt No. 31)</strong>
</p><p>Will rights his glasses, takes a deep breath and looks up from his tablet. He watches in silence as people take their seats all around him, some of them from the other side of the world and only visible through his glasses.</p><p>One seat remains empty. It belongs to Joe Blake, codename Agent Lancelot.</p><p>In any other situation Joe’s absence wouldn’t worry him. Agents go on missions all the time, sometimes even for months, and it’s not unusual for them to miss a meeting. But if what Leslie told him earlier is true then they haven’t been in contact with Joe for the last two weeks and that’s not normal. Standard procedure demands that agents call in at least once every three days when they go as deeply undercover as Joe is. One week without contact would already be cause for worry, but two weeks? That’s bad, and Will has no doubt that Joe’s the reason why Arthur called all of them to this impromptu meeting today.</p><p>Across from him, Leslie leans back in his chair with a bored look on his face. Will knows it’s all a front, though. Leslie and Joe are close. While most agents don’t get along with Leslie Joe never had a problem with his attitude, not even when they first met. He gives back as good as he gets, and it’s one of the reasons why they work so well together and tend to team up on missions so often.</p><p>Will doesn’t know if friendship is all there is between them and he never asked. They make a good team and always get the job done – in the end, that’s all that matters. But he knows the two of them well enough by now that he can see right through the mask that Leslie has so carefully constructed to keep his emotions hidden from the rest of the world, and what he sees makes his heart ache. Leslie is clearly out of his mind with worry for Joe, itching to do something, <em>anything</em> about the situation, and seeing all that love burning right beneath the surface, barely contained, makes Will wish he had someone in his life who would move heaven and earth just to keep him save.</p><p>On his left, Arthur rises from his seat and Leslie’s head snaps towards him. Arthur clears his throat and calls the room to attention, and Leslie watches him like a hawk. Will knows what Leslie’s nervous about: they’ve both seen Arthur downplay the danger an agent is in often enough now to know it’s a pattern. Arthur doesn’t like taking risks, doesn’t like mounting big rescue missions that could result in more agents getting hurt or killed. Chances are, he won’t make an exception for Joe.</p><p>A moment later, he proves them right.</p><p>“Now,” Arthur begins, “as you all know Agent Lancelot has been in France on an undercover mission for the past few months. Two weeks ago, we lost contact with him. Merlin assures me that he tried everything he could think of to reach him. I’m afraid all his attempts failed.” He looks at Merlin with an indecipherable look before he lets out a long breath. “We must expect the worst, gentlemen. We must presume Agent Lancelot’s mission was compromised and that he has been killed.”</p><p>The room is heavy with silence as the agents around Will lower their eyes with quiet acceptance. Then, very calmly, Leslie states, “You’re wrong.”</p><p>Arthur raises an unimpressed eyebrow at him. “Am I, Agent Percival? Please, do go on. Share your thoughts with us.”</p><p>“Your <em>intel </em>is wrong,” Leslie amends through gritted teeth. “I’ve talked to Agent Martinique yesterday and she told me that Lancelot has been in contact with her a week ago.”</p><p>Arthur grimaces as if the mere mention of their French liaison pains him. Will doesn’t know why he dislikes her so much. As far as he’s concerned Lauri is not only a very lovely person but also a highly qualified agent and ally that they’re lucky to have on their side. “Why should Agent Lancelot contact her and not us?”</p><p>“Because he can’t reach us,” Leslie says. “Something – or <em>someone</em> – is fucking with our comms.”</p><p>“Language, Agent Percival,” Arthur admonishes calmly. “Manners maketh man. Do not forget that.”</p><p>Leslie rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. The point is, Lancelot is alive but we can’t reach him and he can’t reach us.” He pushes a tablet towards Arthur. “And the field hospital Lancelot’s at? We’ve just got some new intel that it’s going to get hit by an artillery strike on Friday.” He pauses. “That’s in three days. We need to warn him, sir. We need to warn all of them.”</p><p>Arthur immediately shakes his head. Will would be lying if he said he’s surprised by his reaction. “We can’t just drop someone off at the field hospital, Agent Percival. The whole area is restricted and off-limits to us as you well know, and I’m not risking an international incident over this. No,” Arthur says, handing back the tablet. “Agent Lancelot, should he indeed still be alive, is on his own, I’m afraid.”</p><p>Leslie’s expression darkens more and more with every word he hears. By the time Arthur has finished he looks ready to murder him with his bare hands.</p><p>“What if we drop off someone outside of the restricted area and deliver the message in person?” Will asks in an attempt to diffuse the tension in the room.</p><p>Arthur gives him a long, hard look. “Are you volunteering, Agent Galahad?”</p><p>Will swallows. Volunteering wasn’t really what he had in mind when he proposed the idea but Kingsman agents have each other’s backs and he knows Joe would do the same for him if their positions were reversed, so he nods.</p><p>“Yes, sir, I am.”</p><p>“Me, too,” Leslie says at once.</p><p>Arthur shakes his head. “<em>Down to Gehenna or up to the Throne – He travels the fastest who travels alone.</em> Wouldn’t you agree, Agent Percival?”</p><p>Leslie looks like he’s about to argue but Will catches his eye and very subtly shakes his head. One wrong move and Arthur might scrap the mission altogether. They can’t risk that, not with Joe’s life on the line.</p><p>Leslie visibly deflates. “Yes, sir,” he mumbles.</p><p>Arthur gives him a thin smile and turns back to Will. “We can only drop you off about a day’s march away from Agent Lancelot’s last known position. You’ll be going into No Man’s Land, so to speak. There will be no backup. There will be no help. You will be completely on your own, and we will not extract you should you require assistance.”</p><p>Will hears the silent warning: <em>we will leave you for dead and not come looking for you should anything go wrong. </em></p><p>“Understood, sir,” he says, wondering if he’s just signed his own death warrant. “With your permission, I’ll leave at once.”</p><p>Arthur nods. “Granted. Good luck, Agent Galahad.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you very much for reading! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter :)</p><p>You can find me on tumblr <a href="https://ailendolin.tumblr.com/">here</a>.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2: Dirty Secret (Prompt No. 17)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Tw: swearing</p><p>Characters and codenames:</p><p>Will - Agent Galahad<br/>Leslie - Agent Percival<br/>Joe - Agent Lancelot<br/>Erinmore - Arthur (Head of Kingsman)<br/>Lauri - Agent Martinique (French liaison)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 2: Dirty Secret (Prompt No. 17)</strong>
</p><p>Leslie takes him aside the moment the briefing is over.</p><p>“Thank you, Will,” he says. His relief and gratitude are written all over his face and he looks more open than Will has ever seen him. “I mean it: <em>thank you</em>.”</p><p>Will gives his shoulder – the one not sporting a sling – a brief squeeze. “There’s no need for that, Leslie. I haven’t done anything yet.”</p><p>Leslie stares at him for a moment with an indecipherable look on his face before he shakes his head and scoffs. “That’s not true and you know it.” He gently grabs Will by the arm. “Come on, take a walk with me.”</p><p>At first Will thinks Leslie is going to walk him to the plane but then they make a turn and he realizes Leslie is actually walking them away from the runway. He frowns. His mission is time sensitive. He’ll need every second he can get to find Joe in the middle of rural France as he’s sure Leslie knows, so why would Leslie of all people be stalling his departure?</p><p>Will’s about to speak up but then they round the building and Leslie pulls him towards the fenced-in area Kingsman’s dogs are kept in.</p><p>“Can’t leave without saying goodbye to Artemis,” he says, guiding Will inside.</p><p>The dogs go wild and swarm them, and Will can’t help but smile when his little black and white Havanese pushes through the fray and right into his arms. He’s so happy to see her that he forgets Leslie’s weird behavior for a moment.</p><p>Right until Leslie murmurs lowly, “I think Merlin is up to something.”</p><p>Will freezes mid-pet as everything suddenly falls into place. Of course Leslie would bring him here even though time is their enemy. It’s the only place on the grounds their conversation can’t be overheard – not with all the dogs barking for attention.</p><p>“What do you mean?” he asks quietly, keeping his voice low as a precaution.</p><p>Artemis whines in protest when his hand keeps hovering over her. Will gives her a quick smile and buries both his hands in her fur once more as Leslie crouches down beside him to pet not only his own dog but Joe’s as well when they both press up against his legs.</p><p>“Something is wrong,” he says. “Don’t tell me you didn’t notice how we’ve been having more trouble with our comms and weapons in the past few weeks than in all the years before.”</p><p>He’s right. There have been … unpleasant situations where equipment didn’t work or their comms system failed, leaving agents stranded or without backup during their missions. Will had chalked it up to a streak of bad luck since no one had gotten seriously hurt so far but now he wonders if there isn’t more to it, if Leslie could be right and Merlin is actually manipulating their tech on purpose.</p><p>“Are you sure?” he asks.</p><p>“I don’t have proof if that’s what you mean.” Leslie shakes his head in frustration. “I’m sure Merlin’s sabotaging us, and I think it’s because he’s working for someone else but I can’t prove it even though I’ve been following the guy around like a shadow ever since I dislocated my shoulder.” He lets out a long breath. “He’s just too good at covering his tracks, Will.”</p><p>“He wouldn’t be Merlin otherwise,” Will says, giving him a tight smile. “So, what do we do?”</p><p>“What <em>can</em> we do?” Leslie counters. “I think Arthur suspects him, too, but without evidence we can’t really do anything about it. Which means Merlin is still going to supervise your mission and will most likely fuck with your comms.” He sends Will an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, Will. I never meant to put you in danger.”</p><p>Will shrugs. “I volunteered, remember? Not your fault, Les. Just – promise me one thing?”</p><p>“Anything.”</p><p>“Try to keep Merlin busy,” he says. “Sabotage him in return. I really don’t want to be stranded in France with no comms and a missile on its way – by the way, how sure are we that particular intel is correct?”</p><p>Leslie snorts. “It came from Merlin, so – no fucking clue. There could be no missile at all, or the date could be wrong and the strike will already happen tomorrow. Who the fuck knows? I’ve asked Lauri to look into it but I haven’t heard back from her so far, so your guess is as good as mine.”</p><p>Will nods. He had feared as much.</p><p>He gives Artemis one last affectionate scratch behind her ears, trying to make this moment last. Her fur is as soft as silk between his fingers. He hopes he will see her again in a few days. He hopes his mission doesn’t go FUBAR.</p><p>“Ready?” Leslie asks.</p><p>Will heaves a sigh and pushes himself up to his feet. “Yes. Let’s do this.”</p><p>He starts towards the runway when Leslie stops him once more with a hand on his arm. “I’ll have your back as much as I can, okay? I promise.”</p><p>Warmth fills Will and he gives Leslie a small smile. “And I’ll do my best to bring him home.”</p><p>Leslie bites his lip and nods once, sharply, before he turns and walks towards their headquarters. Will turns the other way, and he can’t help but wonder what kind of version of Kingsman he will return to when he comes back from France.</p><p><em>If I come back from France</em>, he thinks heavily as he boards the plane.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3: Collapsed Building (Prompt No. 4)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tw: swearing, injury</p><p>Characters and codenames:</p><p>Will - Agent Galahad</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 3: Collapsed Building (Prompt No. 4)</strong>
</p><p>Will knows he shouldn’t go into the compound. The best course of action would be to find a way around it and look for a different path than the one that leads into a labyrinth of tunnels most likely filled with traps and tripwire. But he doesn’t have the time to double back, not if he wants to find Joe somewhere beyond Ecoust and prevent a massacre by tomorrow – not if he wants to save sixteen hundred lives and bring his friend home.</p><p>Not if he wants to keep his promise to Leslie.</p><p>So he goes into the tunnels despite the unsettling feeling of foreboding that’s sinking more and more into the pit of his stomach with every careful step he takes. In the dim light of his torch grotesque shadows dance across the walls as he moves into a room filled with bunkbeds, and he tries to keep both his eyes and his mind alert and focused.</p><p>This isn’t the first time he’s been stuck underground. Kingsman trained him for situations like this, and Will remembers all those lessons well, both from his training days and various missions.</p><p>
  <em>Don’t be hasty. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Be calm and thorough and think ahead. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Don’t rush into things. </em>
</p><p>Will follows all the rules, takes every step with careful consideration and doesn’t let his pounding heart or the picture attached to one of the bedposts distract him.</p><p>In the end, it’s not enough.</p><p>He doesn’t see the rat until it is already too late. The scrappy thing freezes in the light of his torch for a split second before it jolts away in a bout of panic – right towards where Will can see a tripwire gleaming in the light. He doesn’t have time to think, doesn’t have time to be scared before the explosion rattles the compound and the world crashes down around him in a cacophony of dust and darkness.</p><p>By the time the room has gone quiet and still once more Will can barely breathe. Blocks of rock are pinning him to the floor and his hands scrabble desperately for leverage on their broken surfaces. When he presses his hand down on the sharp and jagged edge of one of the slabs and pushes with all his might against one of the crushing weight, he registers only dimly the piercing pain in his left palm as slowly, agonizingly slowly, the pressure starts to lift off his chest.</p><p>When the rock is finally gone, Will just lays there and breathes for a moment. The air is filled with so much dust that it feels like he is breathing poison but he <em>breathes</em> – until the irritation to his throat becomes too much and he begins coughing violently. His ribs shift in agony against each other as he curls up as best as he can against the pain.</p><p>A low rumble echoes through the tunnels, causing more dust to rain down on him from the ceiling, and Will knows he has to move. He somehow finds the strength to push away the rocks still covering his lower body and stands up on shaky legs. His eyes are so full of dust and tears that he can’t see even when he finds his torch miraculously still attached to his torn suit and manages to turn it on.</p><p>Blindly, he stumbles to the nearest wall and keeps his hand on it, slowly making his way forward.</p><p>The rumbling around him gets louder, more threatening. A second later something huge crashes to the ground a few feet behind him with a deafening sound and Will starts running for his life. He has no idea where he’s going, has lost all sense of direction, but he knows he will die if he stays where he is, so he hurries down corridor after corridor in the dark, blindly stumbling over rocks along the way.</p><p>He falls – once, twice. The third time it happens, it saves his life.</p><p>He hits the ground hard, his knees protesting in screaming agony, but he can’t stop so he goes to place his hands on the ground in front of him to push himself back up to his feet.</p><p>Only there is no ground in front of him. His fingers touch nothing but air and Will’s stomach drops. Instinctively, he jerks backwards, his heart pounding loudly in his ears. Taking a deep breath to gather his nerves he inches forward again to try and gauge how big the gap in the floor is.</p><p>It’s wider than he can reach.</p><p>Despite all his training and all the insane situations he’s found himself in in the past few years, panic takes hold of Will’s mind. He can almost see the dark chasm before him, can almost see himself trying to cross it and plummeting down into an impenetrable darkness and to his death.</p><p>Behind him, the tunnel is coming down.</p><p>Part of him wants to curl up against the wall and just let it happen. But that’s not him. That’s not the boy who took on bullies two heads taller than he was because they called his sister’s dress ugly. That’s not the boy who loved reading instead of playing rugby and refused to feel ashamed of it.</p><p>He never chose the easy way out before, and Will is not about to start doing that now. So he gathers what courage he has left, takes a few steps back, squeezes his eyes shut even though he can’t see anyway, and jumps into the unknown.</p><p>He makes it, barely, and once he’s outside of the compound he pours more water than he can probably spare over his face in a desperate attempt to clean his eyes. He blinks rapidly as the world starts to come back into focus. With shaking hands, he reaches for the extra pair of glasses he always carries with him. They’re still intact, and he puts them on.</p><p>“This is Agent Galahad, come in,” he rasps out before doubling over and coughing up dust once more while his ribs scream in protest.</p><p>There is no response. Will frowns and tries again.</p><p>“I repeat, this is Agent Galahad. Kingsman, please come in.”</p><p>More static.</p><p><em>Shit</em>, Will thinks.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4: Ignoring an Injury (Prompt No. 30)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tw: injuries </p>
<p>Characters and codenames:<br/>Will - Agent Galahad<br/>Joe - Agent Lancelot<br/>Leslie - Agent Percival<br/>Lauri - Agent Martinique (French liaison)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 4: Ignoring an Injury (Prompt No. 30)</strong>
</p>
<p>Just one more step.</p>
<p>And another.</p>
<p>Right foot, then the left.</p>
<p>Repeat.</p>
<p>Right.</p>
<p>Left.</p>
<p>Ignore the pounding in your head.</p>
<p>One more step.</p>
<p>Don’t think about your throbbing palm.</p>
<p>Lift your foot.</p>
<p>Forget about the bruises.</p>
<p>Keep your eyes open.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about the cold.</p>
<p>Just walk.</p>
<p>Right foot, then the left.</p>
<p>Will has been in France for roughly twenty-four hours – not that long, really, but somehow everything about this mission that could have possibly gone wrong <em>had </em>gone wrong, starting with the explosion in the tunnels and his broken comms and ending with the faulty intel he got. Either Merlin needed to do a serious reassessment of his sources or he had lied to them on purpose because when Will met up with Lauri in a damp cellar in Ecoust – something that only happened because Leslie managed to reach her and told her to keep an eye out for Will – she’d informed him that the missile they thought would be striking the field hospital in two days was, in fact, scheduled for tomorrow morning.</p>
<p>Will was running out of time.</p>
<p>He knew it, and Lauri knew it, too. She asked him to stay with her, insisting that it was impossible to reach the field hospital on foot in the few hours he still had left. Her worried eyes had been fixed on the back of his head where he was still bleeding sluggishly, and her hands had gently probed at the wound Will could only half remember getting. Every part of his body ached to lie down and rest. The mere thought of walking another step made him want to curl up in a corner and close his eyes.</p>
<p>But he couldn’t. Sixteen hundred lives were on the line, Joe’s among them.</p>
<p>Will knew he would never forgive himself if he stayed with Lauri instead of trying his best to save a good man and many more from an untimely and undeserved death.</p>
<p>So he walks and he runs and he stumbles and falls, repeating his mantra in his head again and again:</p>
<p>Just one more step.</p>
<p>And another.</p>
<p>Right foot, then the left.</p>
<p>Repeat.</p>
<p>Will doesn’t know how many steps he forces himself to make until he finally reaches the overrun field hospital beyond Croisilles Wood. Tents upon tents stretch across a field, and he feels overwhelmed by the sheer number of them. People in military uniforms bustle about and Will has no idea how he is supposed to find Joe in a sea of identical greens and browns when one of the soldiers at the edge of the field hospital suddenly turns around and he sees Joe’s familiar blue eyes in a tired looking face. He seems to have aged years since Will last saw him but he’s alive and Will couldn’t have asked for more than that.</p>
<p>Joe’s eyes widen when he catches sight of Will and he hurries over. It’s then that Will knows his running has finally come to an end.</p>
<p>“Galahad?” Joe asks, his voice low so no one can overhear them. Judging by the way his eyes roam over Will’s body with the same worry Lauri’s held only a few hours ago, Will must make a sorry sight. He wonders if he looks as bad as he feels. “What are you doing here?”</p>
<p>“There’s no time,” he rasps out. Joe’s face is blurry, or maybe Will’s vision is, Will’s not sure. He tries to blink him back into focus but it doesn’t work. “We need to evacuate these people right now. This place is about to get blown up.”</p>
<p>The color drains from Joe’s face. It’s a testament to the trust he has in Will and Kingsman that he doesn’t ask Will to tell him more, doesn’t demand that Will specify what exactly is going to happen and why he had to deliver the news in person. Instead he reaches for his walkie-talkie, hailing the colonel he’s been serving under for the past few months to convince him to evacuate the field hospital at once, claiming to have new intel on their enemy.</p>
<p>The colonel, luckily, listens. A moment later, the order to evacuate is issued through every speaker around the field hospital and the camp breaks out into chaos.</p>
<p>“Let’s go,” Joe says. Will feels him gripping his arm and lets Joe turn him around and drag him away from the tents and back the way he came from. No one notices them leaving, but Joe doesn’t stop when they reach the woods. He keeps walking at a brutal pace, pulling Will along, and only stops once they’ve cleared the woods and reached the edge of the river Will had been forced to jump into earlier.</p>
<p>“What the fuck happened, Will?” Joe asks, turning around without warning. Will almost runs into him. “First I can’t reach Kingsman for weeks and then you arrive out of nowhere to warn me about – what? A bomb? An incoming missile? I repeat: what the fuck?”</p>
<p>Will gives him the brief version of events even though every breath he takes makes his ribs ache and he just wants to sleep. He is tired. So very tired.</p>
<p>He tells Joe about Leslie’s suspicion that Merlin tampered with their comms system, how Arthur wanted to leave him behind because the area around Ecoust is restricted and he didn’t want to risk an international incident. He recounts how he volunteered to deliver the warning to him in person, how Kingsman dropped him off a day’s march away, and how he met up with Lauri and learned that the intel Merlin gave them was wrong.</p>
<p>What he doesn’t mention are the tunnels and how he got almost buried alive and hurt his hand in his desperate attempt to free himself. He doesn’t explain why he’s soaking wet and still bleeding from a head wound that keeps pounding along with his racing heart.</p>
<p>None of that matters, not in the grand scheme of things, because Joe is here with him, alive and well. He will get to see Leslie again, and his mother and little brother. The field hospital is being evacuated right now and the missile heading its way will only destroy equipment, not lives.</p>
<p>That’s what matters.</p>
<p>He did what he set out to do, and his mission is finally over.</p>
<p>It’s only later, after they’ve made their way back to Ecoust in the dark and take shelter in Lauri’s cellar that Will realizes he’s wrong.</p>
<p>It’s not over, not for him, because the cut in his palm begins to throb painfully along with his head, making him burn from the inside out even though he’s shivering so badly his teeth start chattering. Lauri gives him some soup and even lights a small fire for him but it doesn’t help.</p>
<p>When Will tries to stand up, tries to get his aching body to move once more to bring her his empty bowl, the room suddenly tilts sideways. He grabs onto the nearest thing he can reach which turns out to be Joe’s jacket before the world around him darkens.</p>
<p>His grip goes slack.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5: Field Medicine (Prompt No. 20)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tw: injuries and blood</p>
<p>Characters and codenames:<br/>Will - Agent Galahad<br/>Joe - Agent Lancelot<br/>Lauri - Agent Martinique (French liaison)<br/>Leslie - Agent Percival</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 5: Field Medicine (Prompt No. 20)</strong>
</p>
<p>“Shit,” Joe mutters as Will crumbles against him. “Lauri, can you get me some clean water and bandages?”</p>
<p>“Give me a sec,” Lauri says, hurrying out of the room.</p>
<p>Joe takes in the pallor of Will’s face, the sweat matting his hair to his brow, the way his body trembles. Something’s wrong. “And I need comms to Kingsman!” he calls after Lauri.</p>
<p>“On it!”</p>
<p>He readjusts his hold on Will to keep him upright. Even though Will has always been lean, Joe finds he has trouble keeping him upright.</p>
<p>He remembers Leslie telling him just before his undercover mission that nothing could ever heavier than the dead body of someone you loved. It had been Leslie’s way of saying that Joe better take care of himself and come back to him, but it’s only now with the dead weight of Will’s unconscious body in his arms that Joe is truly beginning to see what Leslie meant. Will might not be dead and Joe certainly doesn’t love him, not like that, but the thought that Will might never open his eyes again is almost too much to bear.</p>
<p>“Will,” he urges quietly as he readjusts his hold on him once more. “Will, can you hear me?”</p>
<p>Will mumbles something against his shoulder that Joe doesn’t understand but he doesn’t wake up. Unable to keep him upright any longer, Joe has no other choice but to lower them both to the floor. He cradles Will’s head against his chest and his stomach sinks when he feels the heat radiating off of him. For the first time since Will found him in the field hospital he’d been living at for the last few months Joe takes a good look at him.</p>
<p>He doesn’t like what he sees.</p>
<p>It looks like Will went through hell to get to him in time. His clothes are still damp with what smells like river water. There’s a dirty bandage wrapped haphazardly around his left palm and when Joe lifts his hand from where it’s still holding the back of Will’s head it comes away sticky with blood.</p>
<p>He remembers how Will had looked just a few hours ago: completely drenched, almost deathly pale, and on the brink of exhaustion. He’d struggled with his breathing, too, but at the time Joe couldn’t afford to check him over for any other injuries, not with a missile heading their way. Kingsman protocol clearly states that escape and extraction always come first and injury assessment second.</p>
<p>Joe knows he did everything right. He’d warned the colonel and got both Will and himself out of the blast zone as fast as he could. But now with Will lying unconscious in his arms and running a fever, he can’t help but think that he should have stopped to check him over – if not at the field hospital, then in Croisilles Wood at least. He knows Will has a reputation for disregarding his own health in favor of what he deems to be more pressing matters. He <em>knows</em> this, and he should have made sure Will was alright.</p>
<p>There’s nothing he can do about it now, though, and regrets won’t help Will, so Joe carefully does what he couldn’t do earlier: he checks Will over for injuries. With gentle fingers, he probes at the matted hair on the back of Will’s head. His skull doesn’t seem fractured but Will groans when Joe’s fingertips skim over the edge of the wound. He trails his hand down Will’s back and over his side. Ribs shift beneath his palm and Joe grimaces when Will tries to move away from his touch. He doesn’t have to see Will’s chest to know it’s most likely black and blue, though from what he has no idea.</p>
<p>His eyes fall to the dirty bandage around Will’s left hand, and he tears it off just as Lauri comes back into the room. They both wince when they see the inflamed skin of Will’s dirty and cut open palm.</p>
<p>“Mon dieu,” Lauri mutters. “He told me it was just a scratch.”</p>
<p>It might have started out as one but it’s clearly more than that now. Whatever Will went through to find him in the middle of nowhere, France, didn’t do his hand any favor. Joe’s not a doctor but he’s seen countless of cases of infection over the last few months at the field hospital to know that Will’s hand needed treatment right now or he may lose it.</p>
<p>“Have you managed to contact Kingsman?” he asks with renewed urgency.</p>
<p>Lauri nods and hands him a small device. “It’s secure but … better keep it short, just to be safe.”</p>
<p>“Thanks.” Joe takes it from her. After clipping it to his ear, he activates the connection with a tap of his index finger. “This is Agent Lancelot. Can anybody hear me?”</p>
<p>Nothing.</p>
<p>Lauri wrings out the cloth she brought with her and slowly starts cleaning Will’s hand and arm. “Je suis désolé,” she whispers when Will moans in pain.</p>
<p>“Hello?” Joe tries again. “This is Agent Lancelot. Kingsman, can you hear me?”</p>
<p>There’s another moment of silence until a voice finally says, “We hear you, Agent Lancelot.”</p>
<p>Joe is so surprised to hear Leslie on the other end of the line that he almost blurts out his real name. “What – Percival? Where is Merlin?”</p>
<p>“Ah,” Leslie says. “I’m afraid we had a bit of a problem on that front. Your comms? Fucked with on purpose, as it turns out. You’ll get a full debrief later. Are you and Agent Galahad alright?”</p>
<p>“Yes and no,” Joe says, glancing down at Will’s pale face and trying not to wonder why Merlin would intentionally sabotage their comms. “Galahad found me in time but he’s hurt. We’re with Martinique but we need to bring him home.”</p>
<p>There’s a pause on the other side. “No can do,” Leslie informs him. “Not today, at least. Maybe tomorrow.”</p>
<p>Joe frowns. “That’s not good enough,” he says. “I don’t care how you do it, Percival, but I need you to send a plane right now.”</p>
<p>“Listen,” Leslie says, his voice lowered. “Things have gone to shit over here in the last twenty-four hours. You’re not the only ones we need to get out, okay? I’ll do my best, Lancelot, but you’ve got to give me time until tomorrow.”</p>
<p>Joe doesn’t think Will has until tomorrow, not with the way Lauri is looking at Will’s hand and shaking her head in quiet dismay, but he knows that’s not Leslie’s fault.</p>
<p>“Alright,” he sighs. “Tomorrow, then. Just, hurry, alright? And stay safe.”</p>
<p>“You, too,” Leslie says quietly. “Until tomorrow, Lancelot.”</p>
<p>The line goes dead. Joe meets Lauri’s eyes over Will’s unconscious body. They both know neither their medical supply nor their knowledge of first aid will be sufficient enough to help Will but they can’t change that. They will have to make do with what little they have, so together they try their best to fix Will up as good as possible. They clean his wounds until the water in Lauri’s bowl is a dirty pink. They bandage his hand and head before they cut his ruined suit from his trembling body and bundle him up in as many blankets as they can find.</p>
<p>When the sun sets over Ecoust that night, they restack the fire and wrap themselves around Will from both sides to keep him warm, hoping it will be enough.</p>
<p>It’s not.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6: Delayed Drowning (Prompt No. 13)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tw: injuries, swearing</p>
<p>Characters and codenames:<br/>Tom - Kingsman candidate<br/>Elizabeth - Morgana (Will's sister, Kingsman's doctor)<br/>Will - Agent Galahad<br/>Joe - Agent Lancelot</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Part 2: Galahad</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>Chapter 6: Delayed Drowning (Prompt No. 13)</strong>
</p>
<p>“So, who’s that guy over there?”</p>
<p>Morgana follows Tom’s gaze before she returns her eyes to the needle currently drawing blood from his arm without saying a word.</p>
<p>Tom frowns. “Are you only allowed to talk medical stuff with me? Is that, like, a thing here? No fraternization with the agents?”</p>
<p>Morgana gives him a smile that could have frozen the ocean. “You are not a Kingsman agent yet, <em>Candidate</em> Blake. And depending on what I will find in your blood you may never earn that title.”</p>
<p>“Oi!” Tom says, offended. “If you think I’m doing drugs I can tell you right now you’ll be sorely disappointed.”</p>
<p>“Oh, will I?” Morgana asks with a raised eyebrow.</p>
<p>Tom is seriously tempted to stick his tongue out at her, childish as it may be.</p>
<p>“Yes,” he stresses. “Mum would kill me if I even looked at the stuff, and Joe would finish the job for her and hide my body.”</p>
<p>“Ah,” Morgana says with a hint of amusement. “Agent Lancelot. Your brother.”</p>
<p>Tom nods. “You know him well?”</p>
<p>Morgana pulls out the needle. “I know everyone well, Blake. Inside and out, you could say. It’s my job.”</p>
<p>“Then who’s sleeping beauty over there, hm?” Tom asks cheekily, pointing once more over his shoulder with the one hand not currently pressing a pad of gauze to the puncture wound on his lower arm. “Come on, you know you want to tell me.”</p>
<p>“I really do not,” Morgana mutters under her breath, “but you won’t rest until I do, will you?”</p>
<p>She puts the vials of blood she’s drawn from his arm away before she turns back around and folds her arms across her chest. There’s a shadow of something in her eyes that makes Tom pause.</p>
<p>“<em>Sleeping beauty over there</em>,” Morgana quotes him mockingly, “is Agent Galahad, the one you are here to replace. He’s one of Kingsman’s finest agents – and he’s my brother.”</p>
<p>Tom’s eyes grow wide and he swivels around to take a better look at the unconscious man. “Oh shit, that’s him? Why is he here? What happened to him?”</p>
<p>Morgana sighs. “Mission gone wrong,” she says shortly.</p>
<p>That must be the understatement of the year. Agent Galahad looks like he’s been through hell and back. His face is so deathly pale it looks like he hasn’t seen the sun in months, and the shadows beneath his eyes make him look hollow and gaunt. White gauze is wrapped heavily around both his head and his left hand, and there’s a tube in his mouth helping him breathe. The rest of his body and any other injuries are hidden beneath a pile of blankets.</p>
<p>Morgana rounds Galahad’s bed to press a gentle hand against his face. Her smile is sad and almost wistful when she says, “He was sent to deliver a message to your brother, you know? He saved his life.”</p>
<p>“He did?” Tom breathes, suddenly seeing the young man in the bed with different eyes.</p>
<p>Morgana nods. “The place your brother infiltrated during his mission was targeted with a missile. By the time we gained that intel your brother’s comms were down and we couldn’t reach him. Will – Agent Galahad – ran through half of France to warn him in person.”</p>
<p>Tom quietly hops down from the bed he’s still sitting on and joins her at her brother’s bedside. “I … I don’t understand. Joe wasn’t hurt, and Agent Galahad obviously made it to him, so why is he –“ He makes a vague hand gesture towards the bed, “– like this?”</p>
<p>Morgana shrugs one shoulder. “I don’t know.” She glances at Tom with damp eyes – so different from the fierce woman he first met when he walked through the door of the infirmary. “We had to put him in a coma because his body couldn’t handle the stress from all his injuries. He was showing symptoms of delayed drowning when he arrived, and with his concussion, fractured ribs and the infection wreaking havoc on his system he kept crashing. It was just too much strain.” Her gaze strays to the bandaged hand that lies on top of the blankets and she lets out a long sigh. “He’s going to lose it, you know? His hand. We did all we could but –“</p>
<p>She breaks off, shaking her head, and Tom feels a lump in his throat when she takes a deep breath and forces a smile onto her face. “At least he’s still alive.”</p>
<p>Alive but no longer a Kingsman agent, Tom thinks. It’s the reason why he’s here today, after all, why he’s getting his blood drawn and tested. Because Agent Galahad risked his life to save Tom’s brother and came back broken. Without his left hand, there is no chance he will ever be allowed to return to active duty again. He knows enough about Kingsman to be sure of that.</p>
<p>No wonder Morgana was reluctant to talk about it. Not only does her brother lie in ruins before her, but his life does as well.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry,” Tom tells her quietly. The words feel inadequate but they're all he can offer her.</p>
<p>Surprised, Morgana looks up at him. Her eyes soften. “It’s not your fault, Blake.”</p>
<p>Maybe not, Tom thinks, but this man risked his life to save his brother and lost his hand and health because of it. Tom doesn’t know how he can possibly repay him for that but he vows he will find a way. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7: Drugged (Prompt No. 22)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tw: injuries, drugs (painkillers), allusions to addiction, amputation</p>
<p>Characters and codenames:<br/>Tom - Kingsman candidate <br/>Elizabeth - Morgana (Will's sister, Kingsman's doctor)<br/>Will - Agent Galahad<br/>Joe - Agent Lancelot</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 7: Drugged (Prompt No. 22)</strong>
</p>
<p>“Hey!” Tom calls when he spots Morgana at the end of the corridor. She stops and turns around to look at him.</p>
<p>“Yes?”</p>
<p>Tom hurries to catch up with her, his puppy Myrtle close at his heels. “Hi! Uh, so I’ve heard you’re going to wake up Agent Galahad today?”</p>
<p>Morgana’s expression immediately darkens. “Don’t call him that. He’s not an agent anymore.”</p>
<p>“Right, sorry,” Tom says, feeling his cheeks heat up. “Can I be there when you wake him up?”</p>
<p>Morgana narrows her eyes at him. “Why?”</p>
<p>“Uh, because I’d like to be?”</p>
<p>“Not good enough, Blake,” Morgana tells him and turns away.</p>
<p>“No, wait!” Tom begs. When Morgana gives him an impatient look over her shoulder he hurries to say, “Look, it’s just – he saved my brother’s life, okay? And he’s been in this coma for the last four weeks and every time I’ve been by to see him he –”</p>
<p>Morgana whirls around. “You’ve been by to see him?”</p>
<p><em>Shit</em>, Tom thinks, realizing his mistake. “Yes,” he soldiers on despite her glare, “but that’s not the point here.”</p>
<p>“Oh no,” Morgana disagrees, “that’s exactly the point. You don’t even know my brother so why would you visit him?”</p>
<p>Tom swallows, feeling very small beneath her scrutinizing gaze, and tells her the truth. “Because he was always alone when I came by and that’s just not right, is it? He did an amazing thing and – he deserves more than his heart monitor for company. So I made sure to stop by at least once a day and talk to him a bit, you know.” He pauses and offers Morgana a tentative smile. “I think he likes my stories.”</p>
<p>Morgana’s stony demeanor cracks. “You’ve read to him?”</p>
<p>“Yes,” Tom nods. “And I’ve told him all about my childhood. My mum, the farm, growing up with Joe … He’s a good listener.”</p>
<p>Morgana shakes her head in what Tom hopes is fond amusement.</p>
<p>“You’re really something else, Blake,” she says. To Tom’s great relief she then lets her shoulders fall and sighs. “Alright, you can be there when he wakes up but don’t expect much. We have him on some pretty heavy drugs.” She fixes Tom with a stare. “Don’t get in the way, and leave the dog somewhere else.”</p>
<p>“Got it,” Tom nods with a grin.</p>
<p>Inside the infirmary, Will is still lying motionless in the same bed Tom first saw him in four weeks ago. The tube in his throat is gone now, though, so that’s at least something. While Tom takes up position on the left side of the bed Morgana prepares the injection that’s going to wake her brother up.</p>
<p>Tom can’t wait to finally meet Will in person and find out who this impossible man really is.</p>
<p>“Ready?” Morgana asks. When Tom nods she inserts the needle.</p>
<p>Then they wait.</p>
<p>The first thing that changes is the pattern of Will’s breathing. It becomes more erratic than Tom’s grown used to over the last month. When Will’s brow furrows and small, breathy sounds that are too close to painful whimpers for Tom’s comfort leave him, Tom tenses.</p>
<p>He looks over at Morgana. “Is he in pain?”</p>
<p>She shakes her head. “Impossible with the stuff we have him on.” She leans a little closer to her brother. “Will? Can you hear me?”</p>
<p>“Beth?” Will whispers hoarsely. He opens his eyes, squinting against the light, and for the first time Tom can see what color they are. Blue, just like his sister’s. A little darker, perhaps.</p>
<p>“Hey,” Morgana says warmly and reaches for Will’s right hand. “Welcome back.”</p>
<p>“Was I gone?” Will asks groggily. He blinks in confusion. “Why am I in the infirmary?”</p>
<p>Tom has no idea how Morgana manages to retain her professional smile. “Because you got hurt. Don’t you remember?”</p>
<p>Will frowns at her. “Hurt? When? I don’t feel any pain. I don’t –“ His eyes widen and the heart monitor next to his bed goes crazy. “Do you have me on drugs?” he asks, a hint of panic in his voice. “Beth, you know I don’t want that. You <em>know</em>!”</p>
<p>“I’m sorry, Will, but it was necessary,” Morgana says, a hint of remorse in her voice but no regret.</p>
<p>Tom can’t say he understands why Will is so averse to having his pain dulled by drugs but he knows the beginnings of a panic attack when he sees one. Will’s breathing stutters in his throat and his heart monitor keeps beeping frantically. Tom is pretty sure that Morgana will have to subdue him with even more drugs that will only make things worse in the long run if he doesn’t intervene now, so he leans into Will’s line of vision and puts on the brightest smile he can muster.</p>
<p>“Hi! We haven’t met officially yet but I’m Tom!”</p>
<p>Will’s startled eyes snap up to his face. “I – what?”</p>
<p>Tom’s smile softens a little. “I’m Tom,” he says again, a bit more gently this time. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Will.” In the background, the shock of Tom’s presence gets the desired result as the beeping of the heart monitor slowly returns to normal. From the other side of the bed, Morgana breathes a silent <em>thank you</em>. “I don’t know if you remember but I’ve been keeping you company for a while now.”</p>
<p>To Tom’s surprise, something like recognition passes over Will’s face. “You … you talked to me,” he says. The expression on his face is open. Vulnerable. “Something about … an ear?”</p>
<p>“Yes,” Tom smiles. “That was my friend Wilko. Got it bitten off by a rat. Funniest thing I’ve ever seen.”</p>
<p>Will takes a shaky breath, then another. He looks up at Tom in obvious bewilderment. “Who are you?”</p>
<p>Tom doesn’t know how to answer that, doesn’t want to tell this young man that he’s here to replace him. Morgana doesn’t share his qualms.</p>
<p>“Tom is the younger brother of Agent Lancelot,” she explains. “He’s here because we have a vacant position.”</p>
<p>Impossibly, Will’s face pales even more. “Is Joe okay?”</p>
<p>Tom’s heart breaks.</p>
<p>“He’s fine,” Morgana says. “And before you ask: so is everyone else.” Then she takes a deep breath. “Except for you.”</p>
<p>Her eyes settle on where Will’s left arm should be. Will follows her gaze and thanks to the heart monitor Tom can hear the exact moment when his heart literally misses a beat.</p>
<p>“Oh god,” Will whispers in horror. “<em>Oh god.”</em></p>
<p>Tom has never felt as helpless as in that moment when he bears silent witness to Will’s whole world crashing down on him.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Regarding Will's aversion to painkillers: the idea behind that is that Will once got captured by one of his targets and subdued  with drugs for an extended period of time - so long that his body developed an addiction. Ever since then he's been really adamant about not taking any heavy painkillers because he's scared he'll relapse. The story structure didn't allow me to put that information into this chapter but yeah, this is what I'm alluding to.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8: Defiance (Prompt No. 11)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tw: swearing, injuries, animals in danger, suicide? (there is no suicide and not even an attempt but I guess the imagery could be triggering) </p><p>Characters and codenames:<br/>Tom - Kingsman Candidate<br/>Leslie - Agent Percival<br/>Will - Agent Galahad<br/>Joe - Agent Lancelot<br/>Elizabeth - Morgana (Kingsman's doctor, Will's sister)<br/>Erinmore - Arthur (Head of Kingsman)<br/>Smith - Agent Tristan<br/>Mackenzie - Agent Caradoc</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 8: Defiance (Prompt No. 11)</strong>
</p><p>“Shoot the dog.”</p><p>Tom stares at Leslie as if he’s crazy. “You’re kidding, right?”</p><p>“Do I look like I’m kidding to you?” Leslie asks, a hint of annoyance in his voice. “Shoot the fucking dog, Blake, or go home. I don’t have all day.”</p><p>“You’re crazy,” Tom mutters but his eyes still flick over to Myrtle. She’s not a puppy anymore but she isn’t completely grown either. Her paws are still a little too big for her, and he remembers how small she was when he held her in his arms for the first time, how adorable she looked when she fell over her own four feet in her eagerness to run after a ball or a squirrel she spotted beneath the large tree on the lawn.</p><p>But more than everything he remembers how much she trusted him from the get go.</p><p>Tom knows she’s trusting him right now, too. Her brown eyes look up at him, always attentive, always waiting for his next command. She’s a good dog – playful, loyal, and well-trained – and she doesn’t deserve to die because of some stupid secret service bullshit test. She never did anything wrong and the longer Tom looks at her, the harder it becomes to scrounge up the courage to betray her in the worst way possible.</p><p>“Well?” Leslie asks, impatiently tapping his foot.</p><p>Tom glares at him but he moves to take the offered gun. It feels heavy in his hand. Not heavy enough, though. He’s held his fair share of guns since he became a candidate for the position of Agent Galahad and something is off about this one.</p><p><em>It’s a blank</em>, he realizes.</p><p>He isn’t completely sure, can’t be without checking the chamber, but it makes sense. He would bet his life that’s why the weight feels wrong.</p><p>In the end, that’s exactly what he does.</p><p>Instead of aiming the gun at Myrtle he looks Leslie right in the eyes and raises the gun to point it at his own head.</p><p>Leslie’s eyes widen. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Blake?”</p><p>Tom levels him with a look. “I’m thinking if anyone has to die today, it should be me and not my fucking dog, asshole.”</p><p>He pulls the trigger.</p><p>*</p><p>When he comes to, he’s in the infirmary bed next to Will’s with a crowd of people gathered around him: Joe is there, the look on his face alternating between pissed and proud; Leslie and Morgana both look at him with grudging admiration while Agent Tristan can barely hide his smile behind his hand.</p><p>Arthur, however, doesn’t seem to be amused by the stunt he pulled, and Caradoc looks downright livid.</p><p>Tom couldn’t care less.</p><p>“So, did I fail?” he asks, slowly pushing himself up even though his head hurts like hell.</p><p>Joe groans. “I can’t believe you,” he mutters.</p><p>Leslie gives his shoulder a comforting squeeze. “You’re even more of an idiot than your brother,” he tells Tom. “And trust me, that’s saying something.”</p><p>From the other bed, Will adds, “Crazier, too. No one’s ever done <em>that</em> before.”</p><p>He still hides what’s left of his arm beneath a blanket but for the first time since Tom has known him his eyes are bright with held back laughter. He looks <em>alive</em>, and Tom begins to grin. “So I passed?”</p><p>“Yes,” Caradoc says with a long-suffering sigh. “You passed. May God help us”</p><p>He shakes his head and leaves the room muttering about Kingsman going to the dogs under his breath. When Arthur turns to follow him after having reluctantly offered Tom his congratulations, Tom can’t resist the urge to stick his tongue out at their backs.</p><p>Joe swats at him but Tristan chuckles. “Don’t let them see that, lad,” he says before he holds out his hand for Tom to shake. “Well done. Very well done.”</p><p>He nods at everyone in the room and gives Will an encouraging smile before he takes his leave as well.</p><p>Tom waits until Tristan has closed the door behind him before he fixes his brother with a stare. “Don’t tell me you shot your dog.”</p><p>“Tom–“</p><p>“Oh my god, I can’t believe you, Joe! Your fucking <em>dog</em>!” Then he turns to Will. “You, too?”</p><p>Will shakes his head very carefully. Tom knows it’s because he still gets hit by dizzy spells even now. “I aimed the gun at Merlin.”</p><p>Morgana nods in confirmation, her eyes filled with pride, while Leslie cackles. “Oh, I remember that! Bastard kept whining about it for weeks. Man, that was a good day.” He sighs wistfully. “Wish it hadn’t been a blank, though. Would have spared us a lot of pain and trouble, Will.”</p><p>“Les …” Joe says warningly.</p><p>“What?” Leslie asks. “I’m right and you know it. Anyway,” he turns back to Tom, “thanks for shooting yourself and not me. I really appreciate that.”</p><p>“Sorry I called you asshole,” Tom says because it feels like the right thing to do.</p><p>Leslie shrugs. “I’ve heard worse.” Then, to Tom’s surprise, he stands up straight and offers Tom his hand just like Tristan did a moment ago. “Welcome to Kingsman, Baby Blake.”</p><p>“Agent Galahad, you mean,” Will says pointedly from his bed.</p><p>Tom nervously glances over at him, but instead of the bitterness and resentment he expects to see Will’s face is soft and he is giving him a warm smile.</p><p>“You’ve earned that title,” Will explains quietly. Then, so softly it’s hard to hear, he adds, “I’m glad it’s you.”</p><p>Unbidden, Tom feels his eyes begin to burn. For once unable to express himself with words, he reaches out to Will, bridging the distance between them. Will’s skin is cold when Tom finds the spaces between his fingers and holds on tight.</p><p>“<em>Thank you</em>.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This was the first chapter I wrote for this story and I'm so happy I can finally post it! :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9: Reluctant Bedrest (Prompt No. 29)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tw: needles, talk about amputation, hints of depession</p>
<p>Characters and codenames:<br/>Tom - Agent Galahad<br/>Will - former Agent Galahad<br/>Elizabeth - Morgana (Kingsman's doctor, Will's sister)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 9: Reluctant Bedrest (Prompt No. 29)</strong>
</p>
<p>“I am fine, Elizabeth!”</p>
<p>“You are most certainly not, <em>William</em>!”</p>
<p>“Uh, am I interrupting something?” Tom asks hesitantly as he steps into the infirmary. “I can come back later …”</p>
<p>Morgana shakes her head. “No, take a seat, Galahad. And <em>you</em>,” she says, turning back to her brother, “will lie down again right now or so help me god.”</p>
<p>“Fine,” Will grumbles and leans back against the pillows. The knuckles on his hand are as white as the sheets he’s gripping.</p>
<p>“<em>Thank you</em>,” Morgana says tersely. She turns to Tom. “Sleeve up, Galahad. You know the drill.”</p>
<p>Obediently, Tom bares his arm and holds it out to her.</p>
<p>“I’m beginning to think you take pleasure in poking us with needles,” he grins in an attempt to ease the tension in the room.</p>
<p>Judging by the unimpressed look Morgana is giving him it doesn’t work. “Would you rather not get a tetanus shot and die in some godforsaken place in the middle of nowhere, Agent Galahad?”</p>
<p>“Um, no?” Tom replies meekly.</p>
<p>“Good,” Morgana says and stabs him with the needle – using a lot more force than strictly necessary, Tom’s sure, but he bites his lip and keeps quiet. Morgana’s obviously not in the best of moods today and the last thing he wants is to get on her bad side.</p>
<p>So he smiles and applies pressure to the puncture wound when she tells him to and watches silently as she puts the syringe away. When she turns back around, she’s holding a band-aid out to him.</p>
<p>“Put this on,” she orders. “And while you’re here, maybe you can talk some sense into my idiot brother because god knows he won’t listen to me.”</p>
<p>She leaves the room in a huff without sparing either of them another glance.</p>
<p>Bewildered, Tom turns to look at Will. “What happened?”</p>
<p>Will groans in frustration. “I want to get out of here and she’s not letting me.”</p>
<p>Tom’s not surprised to hear that.</p>
<p>“Well, there’s your dizzy spells to consider, your reduced lung capacity and –“ he helplessly gestures towards the empty space where Will’s left arm used to be.</p>
<p>Will gives him an unimpressed look so similar to his sister’s it’s almost scary. “Amputated arm. Stump. Missing limb. Those are the words you are looking for, Tom. Use them.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, well. You know what I mean,” Tom says, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. “Anyway, your sister’s just worried. She wants to make sure you’re all right when she releases you.”</p>
<p>“But that’s just the thing: I’ll never be all right again,” Will says. “My arm is <em>gone</em>, and it will stay gone. My lungs will never heal, and those migraines I’m suffering from? Beth told me they won’t go away anytime soon either.” His voice starts to shake and he takes a deep, calming breath before he finally looks up and meets Tom’s eyes. “This is as good as I’m going to get, Tom,” he whispers. “I won’t get any better.”</p>
<p>With a sigh, Tom sits down on the side of Will’s bed. “I know,” he says, voice quiet and subdued. “And Morgana knows that, too. She’s just having a hard time admitting defeat. You’re her brother, Will. She cares about you so much, and it’s tough for her to see you like this and know she couldn’t help you.”</p>
<p>Will’s shoulders fall and he looks down at the crumpled sheets in his right hand.</p>
<p>“I just want to go outside,” he murmurs. “Just for an hour, to feel the sun on my face.”</p>
<p>“Well, you are a little pale,” Tom jokes faintly.</p>
<p>Will only gives him a tired look. He looks worse than he has in a while – certainly since Tom passed his final test and inherited Will’s former position. Over the last few days Tom watched him grow more and more silent and morose. The shadows beneath his eyes have grown darker again and no matter what food Tom brought him he always claimed he wasn’t hungry.</p>
<p>Now that Tom knows what the problem is a plan is already forming in his mind.</p>
<p>“I’ll talk to your sister, okay? See if we can’t get you out of here for a little while at least.”</p>
<p>Will shakes his head. “She already said no. That’s what we were fighting about.”</p>
<p>Tom shrugs. A simple no never stopped him before. “Let me try, and if she still says no then I’m sneaking you out.”</p>
<p>Will’s head snaps up. His eyes light up for the first time in days and the hope on his face is almost too much to bear. “You’d really do that?”</p>
<p>Tom nods. “Yep. On one condition: you’re going to be a model patient from now on and don’t cause your sister any more grief. When she says you’re not ready to do something, you’re not ready. Deal?”</p>
<p>He holds out his hand and after a moment of brief hesitation Will shakes it. His grip isn’t strong yet but he’s getting there. “Deal.”</p>
<p>Morgana, predictably, isn’t happy about it when Tom talks to her later that day but they both know she can’t keep Will in that bed for the rest of his life. In the end, after almost ten minutes of Tom trying to persuade her with every argument his mind can come up with that it’s in her best interest to give Will some freedom, she finally relents.</p>
<p>“You keep an eye on him at all times, Blake, or no one will ever find your body. Do I make myself clear?”</p>
<p>Despite her harsh words her worry is obvious.</p>
<p>“Abundantly clear, Morgana,” Tom says.</p>
<p>“You will stay at his side and only take him as far as the old oak tree. No further. And you’ll make sure he doesn’t overexert himself. If he grows tired, you bring him back at once. I don’t care if it’s only after five minutes. You bring him back. Understood?”</p>
<p>“Yes, Morgana,” Tom promises.</p>
<p>Her stern expression breaks and she heaves a heavy sigh. “Don’t forget to take Artemis with you,” she says softly. “Will misses her terribly.”</p>
<p>Tom smiles. Artemis and Myrtle are already waiting in his room for him to come and get them. “I will.”</p>
<p>Morgana nods. “Then what are you waiting for?”</p>
<p>With a chuckle, Tom gives her a mock salute before he turns around to head to his room. He’s just about to round the corner when he hears Morgana call out to him once more. “Oh, and Tom?”</p>
<p>“Yes?” he asks.</p>
<p>Her smile flickers like a candle in the wind. “Thank you.”</p>
<p>Tom’s face softens. “Anytime.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10: Broken Trust (Prompt No. 12)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tw: low self-worth</p>
<p>Characters and codenames<br/>Will - former Agent Galahad<br/>Erinmore - Arthur (Head of Kingsman)<br/>Tom - Agent Galahad</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 10: Broken Trust (Prompt No. 12)</strong>
</p>
<p>“You see why we have to do this, don’t you?”</p>
<p>Arthur’s voice is gentle, almost condescending, and Will can’t stand to look at him. He’s been back from France for <em>months</em>, and this is the first time Arthur has graced the infirmary with his presence for the sole purpose of visiting him. He wasn’t there when Will woke up from his coma, wasn’t there when Elizabeth allowed him out of bed for the first time, wasn’t there to watch his progress during his first physiotherapy sessions. The only time Will saw him since before his last mission was when Tom shot himself with a blank during his final test and became Agent Galahad.</p>
<p>And now Arthur is standing at the foot of Will’s bed and giving him a pleasant smile that can’t hide the fact that the only reason why he’s here today is to let Will go.</p>
<p>Will grinds his teeth.</p>
<p>“To be quite frankly, sir: no, I do not,” he presses out.</p>
<p>“Oh?” Arthur says, looking mildly surprised.</p>
<p>Will takes a deep breath. “You sent me to France to deliver the message even though you knew our intel was faulty.”</p>
<p>“Suspected,” Arthur corrects him. “I <em>suspected</em> our intel was faulty.”</p>
<p>“And refused to share that information with me,” Will points out.</p>
<p>Arthur shrugs. “Suspicion and information are not the same thing, William.”</p>
<p>It’s been years since he called Will by his true name, and it grates on Will that he does so now just to hammer the point home that Will is no longer a part of Kingsman.</p>
<p>“They are when the lives of your agents are at stake,” he argues.</p>
<p>Arthur gives him a once over. “You look perfectly alive to me.”</p>
<p>Will huffs. He doesn’t hide his disdain when he says, “Alive, yes. Just not good enough to serve anymore.”</p>
<p>“Now, now, William,” Arthur says. “We’ve tried everything we could. Morgana – your own sister – worked day and night to save your arm. Sometimes, things just aren’t meant to be.”</p>
<p>“So that’s it, then?” Will asks. “You’re dismissing me. Sending me home. Just like that.”</p>
<p>Arthur nods. “As soon as your new flat is ready. You may keep your dog if you want.”</p>
<p>Will scoffs. <em>If you want.</em> If Arthur knew what it meant to care about someone he wouldn’t even have to ask. “Thanks.”</p>
<p>“You know, I don’t enjoy letting you go,” Arthur says after a moment of silent contemplation. “You were one of my best agents, William. Such a promising career. It’s a shame, really.”</p>
<p>Will holds his gaze. “A shame I didn’t die in France, you mean, and spare you all this trouble.”</p>
<p>The look on Arthur’s face becomes stony. “That’s not what I meant. Watch your mouth, young man,” he warns Will.</p>
<p>“Yes, sir,” Will says with a fake smile and gives him a mock salute with his right hand. His only hand.</p>
<p>Arthur glares at him from behind his glasses. “Your new flat will be ready within the week and Morgana will have discharged you by then. Better start thinking of what you’ll be doing with the rest of your life.”</p>
<p>With that he stands up and leaves the room without another word. The moment the door clicks shut behind him, Will lets out a long, shaky breath. Unbidden, tears begin to prick his eyes. Kingsman has been his life since he was seventeen and his sister recruited him after the death of their parents. He’s never known anything else, never done anything else in his life he could fall back on now. How is he supposed to start over in a world he barely knows, with only one hand at that?</p>
<p>A tentative knock on his doors makes him wipe his eyes hastily. A second later Tom sticks his head in, an anxious expression on his face. “He gone yet? How’d it go?”</p>
<p>Will just shakes his head and Tom’s face falls.</p>
<p>“Kingsman doesn’t value its agents as much as they claim to, Agent Galahad,” he says. His voice breaks on his former title and he clears his throat. “Everyone is replaceable. You’d do well to remember that.”</p>
<p>“Will–“</p>
<p>Will shakes his head. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to be alone now, please.”</p>
<p>He turns his back on Tom and stares at the white wall, pristine and perfect unlike himself, until he hears Tom’s quiet, “I’m sorry, Will,” before the door falls softly shut.</p>
<p>It’s only then that he closes his eyes and finally lets the tears fall.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This is the end of part 2 - Galahad. I'm very excited to share the first chapter of part 3 with you all tomorrow!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11: Support (Prompt No. 7)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tw: swearing, mentions of losing a limb</p>
<p>Characters and codenames<br/>Tom - Agent Galahad<br/>Joe - Agent Lancelot<br/>Will - Former Agent Galahad<br/>Erinmore - Arthur (Head of Kingsman)<br/>Leslie - Agent Percival<br/>Mackenzie - Agent Caradoc<br/>Smith - Agent Tristan</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Part 3: Merlin</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>Chapter 11: Support (Prompt No. 7)</strong>
</p>
<p>Tom wants to scream. He wants to scream and curse and rage against the injustice of it all because Kingsman is planning to let Will go without so much as a thank you after everything Will did for them and that’s not okay. That’s not <em>fair</em>.</p>
<p>What’s even worse is that his own brother seems to be completely unwilling to do anything about it even though Will went through hell for him. </p>
<p>“It’s not my decision,” Joe tells him with a half-hearted shrug that morning when Tom pesters him about it for the umpteenth time.</p>
<p>Tom rounds on him. “So that’s your excuse, then? That guy saved your life and <em>lost his arm</em> for you and you’re not even going to fight for him? Really, Joe?”</p>
<p>Joe sighs, and for that exasperated noise alone Tom wants to punch him.</p>
<p>“Listen, you little shithead,” Joe says. “We’re not calling the shots here, okay? Arthur is, whether you like it or not, and once his mind is made up, there’s nothing we can do to change it. Trust me.”</p>
<p>“So you won’t even <em>try</em>?” Tom asks. His eyes burn with disappointment. “What, you think Will can’t be useful anymore? Is that it?”</p>
<p>“Of course I don’t think that!” Joe exclaims. “I know the guy is brilliant. But he lost an arm, Tom. He’d be a liability in the field with an obvious disadvantage like that. I’m sorry but his career as an agent is over.”</p>
<p>Tom stares him right in the eyes. “What about a wizard, then? He can be that, can’t he?</p>
<p>Joe’s eyes go wide but Tom shakes his head. He turns around on the spot before he can say anything, leaving him standing in the hallway.</p>
<p>He’s only been an agent for a few weeks but he’s already sick of the elitist bullshit that’s going on at Kingsman. First the stupid test with the dog, now the way they treat Will. As if a person can only be a valuable asset as long as they meet the standards Kingsman requires. If they don’t? Well, they better get killed in the line of duty because Kingsman will have no use for them whatsover if they come home damaged.</p>
<p>Frustrated, Tom puts on his glasses and opens the doors to the briefing room. He can hear Joe behind him, running to catch up with him, but he doesn’t care any longer if he has his brother’s support in this or not. Will, who is currently sitting in an uncomfortable looking chair in the corner, underlining his status as an outcast, deserves to have someone fight for him, and Tom is more than willing to be that person, even if he’s the only one.</p>
<p>He gives Will a smile that he hopes is reassuring but Will can barely meet his eyes. He’s hunched over, trying to make himself small while he cradles his one remaining arm close to his body. There are dark shadows beneath his eyes and the way he’s pressing his lips tightly together tells Tom that he didn’t take his pain medication this morning.</p>
<p>Sitting in the seat that used to belong to Will, Tom patiently waits until Arthur begins the briefing and finally reaches the part of the agenda where he’s letting Will go.</p>
<p>“As most of you already know, our former Agent Galahad returned from his latest mission grievously injured. Since he can no longer perform his duties, it is with deep regret that we say goodbye to William Schofield today. William, please stand up.”</p>
<p>Before Will can, Tom puts both his hands on the table and pushes his own chair back with more force than necessary.</p>
<p>“That’s bullshit,” he says, loud and clear, and the room grows deathly quiet. All eyes turn to him.</p>
<p>“Excuse me?” Arthur says.</p>
<p>“It’s bullshit,” Tom repeats and barrels on. “You’re not regretting a single thing about this. All these people here – every single day they risk their lives because you tell them to, and they do it gladly, myself included. We all know things can go wrong in the field. But this?” he asks, pointing at Will. “This is on you, and you alone. You knew something was wrong with Merlin and didn’t share that information, sending not only my brother on a mission with faulty intel and broken comms, but Will as well. Your mistake almost got both of them killed!”</p>
<p>Arthur stands up. “You better watch what you’re saying, young man,” he growls.</p>
<p>Tom leans closer until they’re almost nose to nose, staring him directly in the eyes. “Not until you allow Will to stay.”</p>
<p>The other agents begin to murmur and whisper and Tom smiles. Good. Let them realize that this could be them losing their job in a week, a month, a year even though they followed all the rules and made no mistakes.</p>
<p>Behind him, he feels someone stepping closer.</p>
<p>“Tom,” Will begins quietly and when Tom looks at him over his shoulder he shakes his head. “Don’t ruin your career for me. It’s not worth it.”</p>
<p>“Listen to him, Agent Galahad,” Arthur says with an unpleasant smile. “William knows there’s no place for him here anymore.”</p>
<p>“You’re wrong,” a voice suddenly says, and all heads snap around to look at Joe. Tom bites his lip as he watches his brother slowly, deliberately, stand up. “We have one position still vacant and William would be perfect for it.”</p>
<p>Next to him, Leslie’s eyes widen in realization.</p>
<p>“Yes, of course!” he agrees enthusiastically. “Make him Merlin! He has the know-how, the patience, and to be quite frankly I’m tired of having to babysit the other agents.”</p>
<p>One by one, the other agents raise their voices in agreement and Tom watches in amazement as the Kingsmen slowly unite on this issue. He catches his brother’s eyes and Joe gives him a small nod and a smile, and Tom vows to give him the biggest hug once this meeting is over.</p>
<p>The only one not agreeing is Mackenzie but after Smith elbows him in the side and glares him into silence he sinks back into his chair and folds his arms across his chest, looking away and muttering quietly to himself.</p>
<p>In the end, Arthur has no choice but to relent. He doesn’t look at either Will or Tom when he announces that Will will be allowed to stay on as Merlin for a trial period. As quickly as he can, he ends the meeting and leaves the room with Mackenzie in tow.</p>
<p>Tom is bumping his fist into the air the moment the door closes behind them and grins at his brother who grins right back at him. Next to Joe, Leslie is rolling his eyes and muttering, “Yeah, yeah, we’re all happy, hooray, now don’t overexcite yourself,” but his smile is genuine when he nods at Will.</p>
<p>When Tom feels a tentative touch on his shoulder he turns around. He gets one second to take in the look of utter gratefulness and relief on Will’s face before Will presses it into his shoulder and loops his arm around him, holding on as tightly as he can.</p>
<p>“Thank you,” he whispers and Tom doesn’t have to see his face to know he’s crying. “Thank you so much.”</p>
<p>“Anytime, Merlin.”</p>
<p>Tom hugs him back until Will’s thin frame stops trembling.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12: Migraine (Prompt No. 26)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Characters and codenames:<br/>Will - Merlin<br/>Tom - Agent Galahad<br/>Elizabeth - Morgana (Kingsman's doctor, Will's sister)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 12: Migraine (Prompt No. 26)</strong>
</p>
<p>Will’s first days as Merlin are chaotic. While Leslie does his best to impart what little knowledge of their systems he has (“To be honest, I don’t know shit about this, Will.”) Will is pretty much on his own trying to figure out what their old Merlin did to their hardware and software. He spends days going through code, and when he realizes that not only the main system is compromised but all their gadgets could be too, he spends days collecting every little device the agents were ever issued, from umbrellas and weapons right down to their glasses.</p>
<p>One by one, he goes through every item to make sure it isn’t compromised and doesn’t endanger his agents in the field. It’s tedious work but he does it with a smile because if he’ll do this right, he’ll still have a home within Kingsman, thanks to Tom’s efforts. So he begins his days early and leaves his office late, and when Arthur starts breathing down his neck and demanding he work faster because they can’t afford to scrap all their missions indefinitely, he works even longer hours, sometimes well into the night.</p>
<p>It’s not really a problem, Will insists when Tom finds him asleep at his desk one morning. He just needs to get this done so Kingsman is up and running again, and then he’ll rest. Tom doesn’t look happy about it, and neither does Will’s sister when she learns about it, but they know what’s on the line. So instead of stopping him, Elizabeth tells Tom to bring Will coffee several times a day and force him to step away from his computers for at least half an hour every now and then to eat with him or walk the dogs, and Will would be lying if he said he wasn’t grateful for these little interruptions.</p>
<p>He enjoys spending time with Tom, probably more than he should. Tom is like a bright ray of sunlight in a fog, and something settles within Will’s chest every time Tom steps through the door and gives him one of those smiles that make his eyes light up and crinkle at the corners.</p>
<p>Two weeks after he becomes Merlin, things change for the worse, though. Will’s woken up by someone knocking loudly on his door. He groans and wishes he still had two hands so he could press them over his ears because his head is killing him and he wants nothing more than to return to the blissful nothingness of sleep.</p>
<p>“Will?” Tom’s anxious voice calls from the other side of the door. “Will, are you in there? Come on, mate, answer me or I swear I’ll kick your door down.”</p>
<p>Tom’s voice, usually so lovely, grates on his ears and makes the pain in his head ten times worse.</p>
<p>“I’m here,” Will forces out even though speaking makes him feel nauseous. It has the desired effect, though: Tom stops shouting and pounding on the door. “Come in, but please be quiet.”</p>
<p>A moment later the door opens and Will is assaulted by the bright artificial light of Kingsman’s hallways. He shuts his eyes and turns his head away but the motion is making the room spin and he feels bile rise in his throat.</p>
<p>Tom, bless him, notices and hurries to close the door softly behind him so Will’s room is once more plunged into cool darkness.</p>
<p>Will breathes a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” he whispers.</p>
<p>He feels the bed dip as Tom sits down, and even that little movement sends the room spinning again and he bites his lip. Tom’s hand, impossibly gentle, finds its way to his forehead even though Will knows he doesn’t have a fever.</p>
<p>“What’s wrong?” Tom asks softly as he redraws his hand.</p>
<p>Will wishes he hadn’t.</p>
<p>“Migraine,” he murmurs.</p>
<p>“I’ll call your sister.”</p>
<p>Will wants to protest, wants to say this isn’t the first time this happened, but it kind of is. He’s never felt this awful before, never felt like the simple act of breathing might make him throw up.</p>
<p>When Elizabeth arrives not even five minutes later, she shines a light into his eyes that makes him want to whimper and shy away from her. Only Tom’s reassuring hold on his hand keeps him from doing neither.</p>
<p>“It’s a migraine,” Elizabeth finally says, confirming Will’s suspicions. “I was afraid this might happen.”</p>
<p>“What’s that supposed to mean?” Tom asks. “He’s had them before, and they were never this bad. Why’s it different now?”</p>
<p>Elizabeth lets out a long breath. “Migraines are possible after-effects of brain injuries, as you know. They can range from mild to severe. The ones Will had before? They were mild, some maybe moderate. But his brain’s still healing, even now, and there was always the possibility that his symptoms would go away entirely – or grow worse.”</p>
<p><em>Oh</em>, Will thinks. Great. Just his luck, then.  </p>
<p>“Is there anything we can do to help him?” Tom asks and Will would kiss him for his kindness if moving wouldn’t make him feel so nauseous.</p>
<p>“I’m afraid not,” Elizabeth says with regret. “Nothing beyond pain meds and keeping the room dark. Sleep will do the rest.”</p>
<p>She hands Will two ibuprofen and he somehow manages to down without throwing them right back up. He leans back into his pillows and closes his eyes. He doesn’t even notice his sister leaving until he hears the door click shut behind her.</p>
<p>A moment later, his bed dips again.</p>
<p>“Do you want me to stay with you or leave?” Tom asks quietly and Will blames the pain in his head for the tears he feels welling up in his eyes at this unexpected show of kindness.</p>
<p>“Please stay,” he whispers. He doesn’t want to be alone, not now, not when he’s in so much pain again it feels like his whole recovery was nothing more than a dream.</p>
<p>“Okay,” Tom whispers, and Will can hear the smile in his voice.</p>
<p>After that, Tom doesn’t say anything more. He simply shifts around until he’s lying down right next to Will. Then he drapes one of his arms over Will’s chest and pulls him close. The movement is making the room spin in the darkness but once Will has settled against him Tom’s warmth feels like heaven.</p>
<p>“Thank you,” Will whispers into his side.</p>
<p>Tom replies by pressing the softest of kisses against his hair, leaving Will to wonder whether he imagined the gesture or not as sleep pulls him under.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13: Science Gone Wrong (Prompt No. 15)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tw: injury</p>
<p>Characters and codenames:<br/>Will - Merlin<br/>Tom - Agent Galahad<br/>Leslie - Agent Percival<br/>Joe - Agent Lancelot<br/>Elizabeth - Morgana (Kingsman's doctor and Will's sister)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 13: Science Gone Wrong (Prompt No. 15)</strong>
</p>
<p>The plan takes root in Will’s mind three months after he starts his work as Merlin and two after he manages to unfuck whatever their previous Merlin did to their systems. He’s watching Disney’s Treasure Planet of all things with Tom in the house that used to be his and they’re sharing now.</p>
<p>Will’s still not sure how that happened, the sharing Galahad’s house thing. He hazily remembers ranting at Tom one day about having to move his stuff into Merlin’s cramped flat and then Tom blurting out, “Or you could stay and we share the house.”</p>
<p>The rest, as they say, is history.</p>
<p>The one thing he still vividly remembers, though, is Leslie stage-whispering to Joe, “Oh my god, they were roommates!” when Tom told them of their plan a few days later.</p>
<p>Since then, sitting next to each other on the couch in the evenings with their feet propped up on the table, their shoulders touching and Artemis and Myrtle lying on the floor at their feet, has become an almost daily occurrence Will finds himself looking forward to more and more each day. His life might have drastically changed since his mission to France, but during moments like this, when Tom’s eyes light up like a child’s and he laughs in unabashed amusement at something silly, Will can’t help but think that maybe it changed for the better.</p>
<p>He leans a little closer to Tom while on the screen, Silver peels a fruit with his mechanical arm.</p>
<p>“That’s a neat trick,” Tom says. He reaches for some popcorn and hands Will some.</p>
<p>“It is,” Will agrees.</p>
<p>“Would be cool if your prothesis could do that.”</p>
<p>Will turns to stare at him but Tom’s attention has already returned to the movie. Will tries to follow his example and focus on the animated characters on the tv but the gears in his head are already turning. What <em>if</em> his prothesis could do something like that? What if he could turn it into something more than a thing that merely imitates the look of an arm and nothing more? Kingsman is known for its gadgets, after all. Be it a button, a pair of glasses or an umbrella – almost everything his agents wear or carry is equipped with technology.</p>
<p>How much more difficult could altering an arm prothesis be?</p>
<p>Very much, it turns out.</p>
<p>Will knows he probably should have involved his sister in his work, or at least talked to Leslie about it since he’s been their interim Merlin and knows a thing or two about mechanical engineering. Hell, the very least Will could have done was to let Tom in on what he was planning to do since he planted the idea in Will’s mind in the first place.</p>
<p>But in the end he talked to neither of them about it. It wasn’t because he didn’t want their help – he could have used an extra pair of hands more than once, and he wasn’t ashamed to admit it. But a part of him feared he would be raising expectations he might not be able to meet. Tom especially would have jumped at the mere idea of developing a Kingsman-issued prothesis together with him, Will was sure.</p>
<p>He could also imagine how disappointed Tom would be on his behalf should things not work out.</p>
<p>So Will spends his evening tinkering on his own after work. Things are going pretty well considering he’s never done something like this before, and four weeks into the project he decides to go a step further and attach the prothesis to his shoulder to try it out for the first time.</p>
<p>The metal chafes against his skin – even after all these months the scar tissue is still sensitive. Since the arm is just a prototype and not as well manufactured as the one his sister had made for him, it doesn’t fit well but it’s still good enough for a trial run. Will fastens it and carefully moves his shoulder around, trying to get a feel for the new arm. It’s heavier than his other prothesis thanks to all the technology he built into it – too heavy, he realizes after only a few minutes because it throws off his balance and makes his shoulder muscles ache.</p>
<p>With a sigh, Will resigns himself to the fact that not every little gadget he’d like to include is going to make it into the final version.</p>
<p><em>Time to test out the functions and see what works and what doesn’t</em>, he thinks.</p>
<p>He presses a random button hidden beneath at the elbow and watches in fascination as knife tips slide out over what would become his artificial finger nails.</p>
<p>“Nice,” Will murmurs in fascination. Definitely practical in hand to hand combat.</p>
<p>He pulls them back in and presses the next button. Steel caps slide over his fingertips this time and with another press to the button Will feels electricity run through the arm.</p>
<p>Except he shouldn’t be able to feel it at all. He built in a failsafe that was supposed to act as a barrier between his shoulder and prothesis to prevent this very thing, because the last thing he wants is to electrocute himself on accident.</p>
<p>And yet he can feel the electric current of the prothesis making his shoulders tingle. Only a few seconds later his skin starts getting uncomfortably warm, and Will’s heart rate quickens. He reaches for the button to deactivate the feature but nothing happens. He presses it again and when smoke begins to rise from the metal he tries to wrench the arm off. His shoulder feels like it’s burning and his whole body is thrumming with electricity now, and the prothesis <em>won’t budge</em>.</p>
<p>It’s in that moment that Will knows he screwed up. He should have talked to someone before trying this out. He should have let someone know what he was doing. Then he wouldn’t be alone right now, trying to get this damn thing off of him on his own.</p>
<p>Desperately, he reaches for his glasses to activate them.</p>
<p>“Hello? Can anybody hear me? Please, I need help!”</p>
<p>His shoulder feels like it’s on fire and he claws at it, trying to get his fingers underneath the metal to pry the prothesis off but it stays stuck. Out of any other ideas and desperate to stop what feels like flames licking at his skin, he picks up a wrench and starts hammering down on the artificial arm with all his strength.</p>
<p>He hears Tom’s voice over the comms. “Will? Will, what’s going on? Where are you?”</p>
<p>Before he can reply, a shock jolts through him. Everything goes dark before he even hits the ground.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14: Fire (Prompt No. 14)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tw: injury, swearing</p>
<p>Characters and codenames:<br/>Tom - Agent Galahad<br/>Will - Merlin<br/>Elizabeth - Morgana (Kingsman's doctor, Will's sister)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 14: Fire (Prompt No. 14)</strong>
</p>
<p>Tom is on his way outside to take Myrtle for a walk around the mansion when he hears Will’s surprisingly staticky voice over his comms.</p>
<p>“Hello? Can anybody hear me? Please, I need help!”</p>
<p>His heart plummets to his stomach. He stops mid-step to turn back around, Myrtle close at his heels, and starts running back to the mansion even before he activates his glasses. “Will? Will, what’s going on? Where are you?”</p>
<p>Nothing.</p>
<p>He tries again. “Will? Will, can you hear me? Goddammit, talk to me!”</p>
<p>More static fills his ears and Tom pushes himself to run faster. He rushes through the doors of the main entrance, past the briefing room and down several hallways. Myrtle, being the clever girl she is, runs ahead of him and straight for Will’s office, somehow knowing exactly where they’re going. She whines when she finally reaches the closed door and paws helplessly at the wood. Tom is there a second later and pulls the door open without bothering to knock.</p>
<p>The sight that greets him makes his heart stop. Will is lying slumped on the floor in front of his desk, unconscious, with his artificial arm stretched out and away from him. What’s making him pause is that it’s not the prothesis he has gotten used to seeing Will wear over the last few weeks. Instead of skin-like plastic dark metal meets his eyes. It looks warped and keeps emitting a worrying amount of smoke, not to mention the sparks it sets off in intermittent intervals.</p>
<p>Even though his heart screams at him to do something, <em>anything</em> to help Will, Tom resists the urge to get close to him. He knows it will do neither him nor Will any good if he gets hurt, too, so he stays where he is and holds Myrtle back by her collar with one hand while he reaches up with the other to open a comms channel to the infirmary. “Morgana?”</p>
<p>“Yes?” Will’s sister answers immediately.</p>
<p>“I need you to come down to Will’s office right now. I think he tampered with his prothesis and something went wrong.”</p>
<p>Morgana is silent for a long second. “I’m on my way.”</p>
<p><em>What have you done?</em> Tom can’t help but think as he edges a little closer to Will to get a better look at the metal arm. There’s heat coming off of it, a lot of heat, and the area where it’s attached to Will’s shoulder is worryingly red.</p>
<p>Next to him Myrtle whines and tries to get closer to Will. Tom looks at her, knowing exactly how she feels.</p>
<p>“I know, girl,” he says and gives her ears a comforting scratch, “but we can’t. Not yet.”</p>
<p>Only a minute that feels like eternity later, Morgana rushes into the room. She takes one look at Will and her face blanches. It’s the first time Tom has seen her truly scared. She closes her eyes for a brief moment to collect herself before she starts rummaging through the bag she brought with her. Tom watches silently as she takes out a small device that looks like a sonic screwdriver from Doctor Who – something he only knows because Will made him watch the show over the last few months. Memories of evenings spent sitting pressed together on their couch and watching a blue police box fly through space flash through his mind, and he feels his throat close up.</p>
<p>He blinks once, twice, while Morgana points her sonic screwdriver at Will. She presses a button on it, and almost at once the metal arm stops emitting smoke and sparks.</p>
<p><em>Thank god</em>, Tom thinks.</p>
<p>“Help me get that thing off of him,” Morgana commands, already reaching for the metal arm.</p>
<p>Tom crouches down beside Will, only dimly aware that Myrtle is lying down on Will’s other side and placing her head on his chest, and hooks his fingers under the hot metal. Together with Morgana, he pulls. The arm comes off with a sickening sound, and Will opens his eyes and <em>screams</em>.</p>
<p>“Hey, shhh,” Tom makes, leaning over him so the only thing Will can focus on is his face and not whatever Morgana is doing to his shoulder. “It’s okay, Will, alright? It’s okay. We’re here. It’s gone.”</p>
<p>Will’s eyes are wide and brimming with tears. “I’m sorry.”</p>
<p>Tom reaches for his hand and holds it tightly. “I know,” he tells him as calmly as he can. “I know you are, but all that matters right now is that you’re alright, okay? The rest is not important.”</p>
<p>He watches as Will nods even as his bottom lip begins to tremble, and it breaks his heart to see his best friend like this, so scared and in pain. When the tears spill over at last, Tom carefully reaches up with his other hand to wipe them away. He does it again and again, and when Morgana begins to wrap Will’s burnt shoulder to get him ready for transport, he does his best to hold Will still as his body starts to shake with uncontrollable sobs.</p>
<p>It’s awful, all of it, and he has a hard time not crying himself when Will hides his face in his chest in a desperate attempt to muffle his pain.</p>
<p><em>Please let this be over soon</em>, Tom prays to whoever will listen. He presses his temple against Will’s hair and closes his eyes. <em>Please.</em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15: Accidents (Prompt No. 28)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tw: swearing, accidental self-harm, low self-esteem</p>
<p>Characters and their codenames:<br/>Will - Merlin<br/>Tom - Agent Galahad<br/>Elizabeth - Morgana (Kingsman's doctor and Will's sister)<br/>Leslie - Agent Percival</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 15: Accidents (Prompt No. 28)</strong>
</p>
<p>“It was an accident, Elizabeth. I swear!”</p>
<p>Elizabeth merely raises one skeptical eyebrow and looks pointedly at the bandage around Will’s left shoulder. “<em>This</em> was not an accident, Will. This was you being stupid and you know it.”</p>
<p>Will’s blue eyes turn to Tom for help but to his disappointment Tom only holds up his hands in defense and shakes his head. “Don’t look at me, mate. I’m on her side.”</p>
<p>With a sigh Will deflates. His shoulder hurts and his whole body still feels as if its tingling with electricity, and being told off by not only his sister but his best friend as well isn’t really helping matters. He knows they’re right. He <em>was</em> being stupid. New tech always gets tested under safe conditions, and he shouldn’t have made his prothesis an exception to the rule. But he went ahead and did it anyways and there’s nothing he can do to change that now. All he can do is apologize and try to explain why he did it.</p>
<p>So he takes a deep breath and forces himself to meet their eyes.</p>
<p>“Look,” he says, “I know I screwed up, alright? It’s just –“</p>
<p>He breaks off and bites his lip. The stern expression on his sister’s face softens. Next to her, Tom slowly uncrosses his arms, a look of concern on his face.</p>
<p>“It’s just what?” Elizabeth asks.</p>
<p>Will sighs. “I thought I could do it, you know?” he says with a helpless one-sided shrug. “I thought I could do something on my own again. Be useful like … before.”</p>
<p>Elizabeth frowns and shakes her head. “Do you even hear yourself talking?” she asks. “Will, you’re <em>Merlin</em>. It doesn’t get more useful than that.”</p>
<p>“She’s right,” Tom agrees, slowly moving closer to Will’s hospital bed. He looks more serious than Will has ever seen him before. “Yeah, you’re sharpshooting days might be over but so what? What you’re doing as Merlin is just as important if not even more so. You got Kingsman up and running again, Will. You alone and no one else.”</p>
<p>“Leslie helped,” Will murmurs.</p>
<p>Elizabeth rolls her eyes. “Newsflash, little brother: everyone needs help from time to time. Even agents and wizards.”</p>
<p>“Especially agents and wizards,” Tom says as he sits down on the edge of the bed. His voice softens. “You only had to ask, Will.”</p>
<p>Will swallows hard. “I just didn’t want to disappoint you,” he whispers.</p>
<p>Warm fingers come to rest on top of his hand. “You could never disappoint us, Will,” Tom says quietly. “A fancy metal arm is not going to change what I see when I look at you.”</p>
<p>Surprised, Will lifts his head. “What are you seeing?”</p>
<p>“An idiot, obviously,” his sister declares with a huff. She checks his bandage once more before she decides, “You can go. I trust you’ll be in good hands.”</p>
<p>She pointedly glances down at where Tom is still holding his hand, and Will feels his face heat.</p>
<p>“I’ll see you for your check up tomorrow,” Elizabeth goes on. She fixes him with a stare. “9 am sharp, Will. Don’t be late.”</p>
<p>With Tom’s help Will stands up. The ride home is mostly quiet. There’s a tension in the air between them that has never been there before, so thick even their dogs can feel it. Usually Artemis and Myrtle never stay still in the car, too excited to be going home for the day. Now they’re both lying quietly between them pressed against their sides, heads on their paws, trying to comfort their owners in the only way they know.</p>
<p>When they arrive at their house, Tom walks Will to the door. “You go and rest, yeah? I’ll just take the girls for a quick walk around the block.”</p>
<p>So Will goes inside alone. He makes them both tea even though he hardly likes the stuff and carries the cups to the living room where he patiently waits for Tom to come back. Fifteen minutes later, he hears the door open. There’s an odd hesitation in Tom’s steps when he finally joins him on the couch.</p>
<p>Neither of them touches their tea.</p>
<p>“You’re angry with me,” Will says when he can’t stand the silence any longer.  </p>
<p>Tom’s head snaps up. “What? No! Why would you even think that?”</p>
<p>“Because you can hardly look at me,” Will murmurs, nervously picking at the hem of his shirt.</p>
<p>Tom shakes his head. “It’s not because of that,” he says, vaguely gesturing to Will’s bandaged shoulder.</p>
<p>Will frowns. “Then what is it?”</p>
<p>“I was scared earlier, okay?” Tom says. He wrings his hands in his lap. “Seeing you like that – it scared the shit out of me, Will.”</p>
<p><em>Oh</em>, Will thinks. He hadn’t thought about how Tom and Elizabeth must have felt when they found him, but now that he does he feels awful for putting them through this.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry,” he says, letting his head hang.</p>
<p>“I know you are,” Tom tells him, wiping a hand across his face. He looks tired. “I know it was an accident. But you – you talk about yourself as if you’re worthless without a second arm and that’s – that’s not true, alright? It’s not true.”</p>
<p>Now it’s Will who can’t meet his eyes. “Tell that to Arthur,” he mumbles.</p>
<p>“Screw Arthur!” Tom exclaims. His hands reach for Will’s once more. “You’re worth a thousand of him. Do you hear me, Will? A thousand, if not more!”</p>
<p>Warmth spreads from Will’s hand up his arm and to his very core. He glances at Tom and gives him a shy smile. “Yeah?”</p>
<p>Tom huffs out a breath but when he smiles back at him the tightness in Will’s chest finally eases. “Yeah. You’re still an idiot, though.”</p>
<p>Will laughs. “But I’m you’re idiot.”</p>
<p>Tom snorts. “God help me.” Then his face grows serious one more. “No more experiments though, alright?”</p>
<p>Will gives his hand a squeeze. “No more experiments,” he promises.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And this concludes part 3. Tomorrow, "The mission" will begin ;)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16: Power Outage (Prompt No. 27)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Warnings: The goal of the mission shown in this chapter is to seduce a target. There's no non-con, no infidelity or anything along those lines going on because it's part of the job, and the details are not very graphic, but if things like these trigger you, please proceed with caution or skip this chapter. </p>
<p>Characters and codenames: <br/>Will - Merlin <br/>Tom - Agent Galahad<br/>Leslie - Agent Percival<br/>Joe - Agent Lancelot</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Part 4: The mission</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>Chapter 16: Power Outage (Prompt No. 27)</strong>
</p>
<p>Will watches silently as Tom checks his equipment again: signet ring, watch, lighter, pen, shoes, pistol #1, pistol #2 and finally, his glasses. The motions are so familiar Will’s missing hand itches with the memory of them.</p>
<p>He clears his throat and shifts his feet to take his mind off the tingling that isn’t there. “Nervous?” he asks when Tom’s checks his ring for the second time.</p>
<p>Tom shoots him a grin that lacks his usual confidence. “Not at all.”</p>
<p>“You’re a terrible liar,” Will tells him. “How did you pass your training again?”</p>
<p>Tom shrugs nonchalantly. “I charmed Leslie off his feet,” he says with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows.</p>
<p>Will snorts. He’s tempted to say that Tom’s older brother already did that but that’s not his secret to tell. “I somehow find that hard to believe.”</p>
<p>“Oi!” Tom makes. He looks affronted. “I can be charming. Just you wait and see.”</p>
<p>As if Will doesn’t know that. As if that’s not the very thing he is afraid of. This mission – Tom’s first solo assignment since he became Galahad – is a <em>honeypot mission</em> of all things. They both know it will require all of Tom’s charms since the goal is to seduce their target so they can steal sensitive data from him. Will is really not looking forward to walking Tom through this, to watch and witness how he uses his stunning eyes to sweep someone off their feet.</p>
<p>But Tom doesn’t need to know this, doesn’t need Will’s conflicting emotions distracting him right now, so Will bites down on his worries and smiles softly at him instead. “I know,” he murmurs.</p>
<p>Tom’s brow furrows, obviously picking up on Will’s mood, and he takes a step closer. “I’ll be alright, yeah? Don’t worry.”</p>
<p><em>I’ll always worry about you</em>, Will thinks helplessly.</p>
<p>He pulls Tom into a hug.</p>
<p>“Stay safe,” he whispers into his ear. “Remember your training. And come back to me.”</p>
<p>Tears prick his eyes when Tom buries his head in his shoulder and whispers, “Of course.”</p>
<p>Letting him go is one of the hardest things Will has ever done.</p>
<p>Back in his office, Will is flanked by both Artemis and Myrtle as he watches Tom’s feed on his monitors. Every now and then he interrupts the silence to give him directions.</p>
<p>“Take a left here, Galahad,” he instructs right after Tom enters the building. Then, “Now take a right and go up the stairs until you’re on the second floor.”</p>
<p>Until finally, “See that white door there at the end of the hallway? According to my intel, your target should be right behind it.”</p>
<p>Tom pauses, taking in the door and obviously readying himself for what he is about to do. “Thanks, Merlin,” he whispers.</p>
<p>“Good luck, Galahad,” Will whispers back.</p>
<p>He wishes he could look away when Tom approaches their target. He wishes he didn’t have to see how the man is clearly charmed by this sharply dressed man in his hotel room. He wishes he could mute the sound of the transmission when their lips meet for the first time. He wishes he could cut off the feed when hands reach up to undo Tom’s tie.</p>
<p>But he can’t. Protocol demands he witness this, so Will listens to the breathy moans that were never meant for his ears and pretends his heart isn’t breaking a little bit with each endearment Tom kisses against unmarred skin. Next to him, Artemis whines and presses closer against his leg, and Will can’t help but smile at her.</p>
<p>“It’s okay, girl,” he murmurs. “It’ll be over soon.”</p>
<p>He’s not sure who he’s trying to convince more: her or himself.</p>
<p>On the screen, Tom’s fingers cleverly trail over a perfect collar bone before they move across his target’s sternum and then down, down, <em>down.</em></p>
<p>Will swallows hard and tries to resist the urge to look away, if only for a brief moment to gather himself, when the screen in front of him suddenly goes dark. A second later, the lights in his office go out as well.</p>
<p>“No,” he whispers in horror. He presses every key his fingers can find in the dark but his equipment stays dead. His thoughts immediately turn to Tom who is several hundred miles away in Germany right now and probably still seducing his target, completely unaware that he has been cut off from Kingsman and any support he may need.</p>
<p><em>Please be alright</em>, Will thinks. <em>Please be safe.</em></p>
<p>With a trembling hand, he reaches up to activate his glasses and calls Leslie.</p>
<p>“Power’s out,” Leslie replies at once. “The whole compound’s dead.” He pauses and Will can hear the faint voice of someone in the background asking something. “Joe wants to know if Tom’s already on his way back.”</p>
<p>Will stares at the screen he knows is in front of him but can’t see. Dread pools in his stomach. “No,” he says. “He’s still with the target.”</p>
<p>Leslie curses. “Of course he is.” Will hears him take a deep breath. “Alright, Joe and I will go to the backup generators, see what the fuck is wrong with them. You just sit tight and establish contact with Tom as soon as the power’s running again.”</p>
<p>“Alright,” Will says. He almost tells them to hurry but they know just as well as he does that time is of the essence here, so he bites his tongue and lets them do their work. The longer they stay out of contact with Tom the more things can go wrong, and something in Will’s gut tells him that whatever is going on with their power has something to do with Tom’s target in Germany – the same man who, in April, sent a missile to destroy a field hospital in France.</p>
<p>Will hides his face in his hands.</p>
<p>Ten minutes ago, he wished he didn’t have to watch Tom seduce another man.</p>
<p>Now he would give anything to have that feed back online, to know that Tom is <em>safe</em>.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17: Held at Gunpoint (Prompt No. 3)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tw: swearing, honeypot mission (see previous chapter's warnings)</p>
<p>Characters and their codenames:<br/>Tom - Agent Galahad<br/>Will - Merlin<br/>Joe - Agent Lancelot <br/>Erinmore - Arthur (Head of Kingsman)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 17: Held at Gunpoint (Prompt No. 3)</strong>
</p>
<p>For his first mission, things are going surprisingly well, Tom thinks as he runs his fingers down his target’s chest seductively. Gaining entry to the hotel was easy, finding his target’s room no problem with Will’s help and luring him into bed didn’t take as long as Tom thought it would. Well, he amends, he <em>does</em> fit his target’s type remarkably well which is the reason he was selected for this mission in the first place, and that coupled with his charm was bound to lead to success.</p>
<p>And yet as easy as all this has been something about the situation keeps nagging at Tom. He can’t quite put his finger on what is wrong, on what makes him feel uneasy. His target is writhing under him in pleasure, moaning when Tom’s fingers trail over a sensitive spot on his chest, and there’s no indication that the guy is not fully lost in Tom’s touches.</p>
<p><em>It’s probably just nerves</em>, Tom keeps telling himself. He still has a job to do and there’s no going back now, so he closes his eyes when his target crashes their mouths together in an almost brutal kiss.</p>
<p><em>Nerves, and Will</em>, his mind helpfully adds.</p>
<p>Tom knows Will is seeing and hearing everything that’s going on and while a part of him is glad that it’s Will who has his back right now another part wishes it were anyone but him. He doesn’t want Will to see him like this – having sex with someone, pretending he enjoys this man’s touches. It feels like a betrayal somehow, as if Tom is doing something wrong here even though this part of the mission was planned and approved by both Will and Arthur and it’s just another part of his job.</p>
<p>He shudders as fingers grip his arms a little too tightly. He wonders how Will is feeling right now. He wonders how <em>he </em>would be feeling if he saw Will like this. His stomach churns at the mere thought and a tiny light goes on in the back of his mind, the beginning of a realization, when the grip on his arms goes from tight to vice-like and he suddenly finds himself looking up instead of down at his target – and at the gun he’s holding in his hand.</p>
<p><em>Shit</em>, is the first thing that comes to Tom’s mind, followed by, <em>Fuck me</em>.</p>
<p>He knew this was too easy. He knew something was wrong and he didn’t listen to his instincts and now this lunatic that almost killed his brother is pointing a gun at him. It’s in that moment that he also realizes that the feed on his glasses has gone dead. There’s no data in the corner of the tiny screens meaning Will is no longer with him. He is completely on his own.</p>
<p>His target smirks. “Not how you imagined your evening to play out, hm?”</p>
<p>Tom glares up at him. “Yeah, I’m not really into gunplay if you don’t mind.”</p>
<p>“You think you’re funny, spy boy?” his target asks. There’s a manic glint in his eyes that leaves Tom with no doubt that this guy is capable of sending a missile to a field hospital, knowing it will kill sixteen hundred men and not caring one bit.</p>
<p>He wishes he could wash the taste of him from his mouth. He wishes Will was still in his ear.</p>
<p>He keeps quiet.</p>
<p>His target cocks his head to the side. “What, cat got your tongue?”</p>
<p>With one swift movement he pulls the glasses from Tom’s face and Tom can only watch in horror as he throws them against the nearest wall. The glass crumbles to the floor in tiny, irreparable pieces.</p>
<p>“No help will be coming for you,” his target grins. “Your little spy friends will have their hands full with a whole lot of other problems, I promise. It’s just you and me now.”</p>
<p>Without warning, he brings the gun down hard against the side of Tom’s head. Tom groans as stars explode all around him, turning the room into the center of a supernova.</p>
<p>“Sleep, noble knight,” his target singsongs. His voice sounds echoey and far away. “<em>Sleep</em>.”</p>
<p>The last thing Tom thinks about before his world gets swallowed by a black hole are Will and his brother.</p>
<p>
  <em>Please let them be alright. </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Chapter 18: Kidnapped (Prompt No. 2)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tw: swearing</p>
<p>Characters and their codenames:<br/>Will - Merlin<br/>Tom - Agent Galahad<br/>Leslie - Agent Percival<br/>Joe - Agent Lancelot<br/>Erinmore - Arthur (Head of Kingsman)<br/>Lauri - Agent Martinique (French liaison)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 18: Kidnapped (Prompt No. 2)</strong>
</p>
<p>Will hates waiting. He hates sitting around and doing nothing, hates having to bide his time until something happens, good or bad. But more than anything he hates the helplessness of it, the feeling of uselessness combined with the suspense that hangs heavily in the air, threatening to suffocate him.</p>
<p>It’s been an hour since his call to Leslie. So far, he hasn’t heard back from him and the longer the silence stretches, the more nervous he gets. The power is still out, his office still dark and his equipment still dead – and all this time Tom has been in Germany without backup. Will’s mind is running amok with a thousand horrible scenarios of all the bad things that could have happened to him in an hour. He’s been an agent long enough to know that even one minute without comms can mean the difference between life and death, and that knowledge does absolutely nothing to calm his nerves.  </p>
<p>When Leslie and Joe finally manage to get one of the backup generators running and reroute what little power they have to Will’s office, it’s been almost two hours since Kingsman went dark. Emergency lights turn on, tinting the room a dark red, and it’s then that Will realizes that sometimes, the nightmare scenarios his mind comes up with do come true.</p>
<p>Big green letters stare at him from his monitors, screaming only one message: NO SIGNAL.</p>
<p>He tries to access Tom’s glasses and the GPS transmitter in his Kingsman ring but the message remains the same: NO SIGNAL. Next, Will pulls up the GPS tracking for Tom’s other ring, the one that used to belong to his father and Tom asked him to turn into an tracking device in case of emergency, but he can’t get a signal from it either.</p>
<p>The worry in Will’s stomach turns to lead. His fingers fly over the keyboard in his hurry to access the GPS data of his other agents, hoping against hope he hasn’t lost them as well.</p>
<p>The world map on the top right monitor remains empty. No dots appear even though he knows for a fact that Agent Martinique is still in Ecoust protecting the baby of a high-ranking scientist who is on the verge of finding a solution to the world’s fossil fuel problem. He has other agents on missions all over the world as well, on almost all continents, but he can’t find any of them.</p>
<p>The likelihood of all their equipment failing at the same time is infinitesimally small, so there’s only one other conclusion: Kingsman’s tracking system is gone, and the power outage was nothing more than a diversion, the very tip of an iceberg of problems.</p>
<p>“Fuck,” Will mutters.</p>
<p>Desperate to find Tom, he pulls up the camera feeds from the hotel he sent him to only a few hours ago. If they’re lucky, Tom is still in their target’s room, blissfully unaware of the problems on Will’s end. If they’re <em>really </em>lucky, Tom has already accomplished his mission and left for their nearby safehouse.</p>
<p>The cameras show neither of those things. Instead Will watches in silent horror as their target drags a clearly unconscious Tom out of his room and into the nearest elevator. He looks at the time stamp.</p>
<p>“Oh god,” he murmurs. “That was almost two hours ago.”</p>
<p>Switching cameras, Will can see their target dump Tom in the trunk of a fancy car before driving off. There is no license plate on it.</p>
<p>He contacts Leslie immediately. “Leslie, please come in.”</p>
<p>“What’s wrong?” Leslie asks, sounding stressed. “You still don’t have power?”</p>
<p>“It’s not that,” Will says. “Tom’s been kidnapped and I can’t track him. I can’t track any of our agents.”</p>
<p>He hears the sound of metal hitting the ground before Joe starts cursing in the background.</p>
<p>“Shit,” Leslie says. “Okay, let me – <em>Joe</em>! Stop hitting that pipe before you break something or hurt yourself! I know you’re angry but this isn’t helping. Fucking hell,” he mutters, then Will hears him sigh. “Look, Will, we’re still trying to get the rest of our systems back online. Try to find out what’s wrong with our GPS and we’ll talk more at Arthur’s briefing, okay?”</p>
<p>Will looks at his watch. The briefing is scheduled for 1800 hours – meaning Tom will be alone and without the backup Will promised him for another fifty minutes at least.</p>
<p>He swallows down a bitter retort, knowing it’s not Leslie’s fault that things have gone to hell and Tom is in danger.</p>
<p>“Okay,” he tells Leslie and closes the channel.</p>
<p>With a heavy feeling, Will looks up at the empty world map in front of him. His eyes stray towards Germany and its labyrinth of roads. He hopes with all his heart that Tom is out there somewhere and that this delay won’t cost him his life.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Chapter 19: Blindfolded (Prompt No. 24)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Characters and their codenames:<br/>Tom - Agent Galahad<br/>Will - Merlin<br/>Erinmore - Arthur (Head of Kingsman)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 19: Blindfolded (Prompt No. 24)</strong>
</p>
<p>When Tom comes to the first thing he notices is that he is in the trunk of a car. The engine unmistakably drones in his ears and his head aches in rhythm with every bump in the road the tires hit mercilessly.</p>
<p>The second thing he notices is that his eyes are covered with some kind of rough cloth and he can’t see.</p>
<p><em>Great</em>, he thinks. Just what he needs: kidnapped, hurt <em>and</em> blindfolded.</p>
<p>He groans as the car drives over another pothole. He has no idea how far away from the hotel they are by now. Judging by the state of the street they’re driving down they’re more than likely on one of the country roads in Germany and not an Autobahn. Not that it matters since he doesn’t have his glasses anymore and thus no way of contacting Kingsman.</p>
<p>Except …</p>
<p>His cold fingers fumble for the second ring he wears, the one that’s not Kingsman standard issue. A few weeks ago he asked Will if he could tinker with it a little and add a GPS transmitter to it. In the end, Will did more than that. Apart from the transmitter, he also added a tiny microphone as well as speakerphones to the ring to turn it not only into a tracker but also an emergency communications device.</p>
<p><em>If this doesn’t count as an emergency, I don’t know what does</em>, Tom thinks.</p>
<p>He activates the device with his thumbprint.</p>
<p>“Hello?” he says. He doesn’t bother with being quiet or using their codenames since he doubts his target can hear him in the front seat over the engine. “Kingsman, this is Tom. Please come in.” He pauses. “Will, can you hear me?”</p>
<p>“Galahad?” Will’s staticky voice cuts faintly through the noise of the car.</p>
<p>Tom could have wept with relief.</p>
<p>“Yes!” he exclaims. “God, it’s so good to hear your voice, Will!”</p>
<p>“How–“ Will begins before he cuts himself off. “Are you alright?” he asks instead. “Are you safe?”</p>
<p>He sounds desperate and while Tom wishes he could wipe his worries away he won’t lie to him.</p>
<p>“Not really,” he says. “My target hit my head with the butt of a gun. <em>Twice</em>. I’m currently stuck in what I assume is his car and we’re on the road to … somewhere. My glasses are gone and –“</p>
<p>He pauses, suddenly realizing that he’s not wearing anything but his boxers. “– and so are most of my clothes and tech.”</p>
<p>Will is silent and Tom thinks he can hear other voices in the background but they’re too quiet for him to make out what they’re saying.</p>
<p>“Listen, Galahad,” Arthur’s voice suddenly says, and Tom immediately tenses. “We’ve run into some trouble here. Someone fried most of our tech so we can’t track you at the moment.”</p>
<p><em>Shit</em>, Tom thinks. That’s not good. He remembers what his target told him before knocking him out, that his <em>spy friends</em> would have their hands full with a whole lot of other problems. Seems like that wasn’t just an empty threat.</p>
<p>“I think my target did that,” Tom tells them.</p>
<p>Again, there is silence on the other end.</p>
<p>“Thank you for that information, Agent Galahad,” Arthur finally says. “We’ll look into it.”</p>
<p>It sounds like a dismissal and panic claws at Tom’s throat. “Wait!” he says. “You’ve got to be careful, alright? You’ve got to check <em>everything</em>! That guy’s absolutely crazy and he might have done more than fry our systems.”</p>
<p>“We know,” Will, not Arthur, says and his voice is so soft and earnest Tom feels himself relax a little. Arthur might not believe him but he has no doubt that Will does. “We’re going to fix this, Tom, and the moment we do so we’ll come for you, I promise. Do you understand?”</p>
<p>Tom nods even though Will can’t see him. “Yes. Yes, I do.”</p>
<p>“Good,” Will says, sounding relieved. He is quiet for a moment before he says, “I’m sorry.”</p>
<p>“What?” Tom asks. Then realization dawns and he resists the urge to shake his head. “Will, this is not your fault. You know that, don’t you?”</p>
<p>On the other end of the line, Will heaves a heavy sigh. Tom can almost see him running his hand through his hair, messing it up in the process. “Designing your ring to work only one-way was a mistake.”</p>
<p> “We both agreed it would be safer,” Tom tells Will gently. “That the risk of one ill-timed activation on your end was too great. It was never meant to be more than an emergency device, Will.”</p>
<p>“Still,” Will protests weakly. “With your glasses gone I had no way of reaching you. What if you … what if –“</p>
<p>He breaks off and in that moment Tom wants nothing more than to be home and pull Will into his arms, telling him that everything is going to be alright for as long as it takes until Will believes him.</p>
<p>“Hey,” he says softly. “I’m okay, so don’t worry so much about me, alright? You’ve still got time to be my knight in shining armor and come rescue me.”</p>
<p>Will chokes out a laugh. “Don’t you mean wizard in dashing robes?”</p>
<p>Tom grins. “Yeah, that works, too.”</p>
<p>Once more he hears the sound of people talking, maybe even arguing, before Will’s voice is back. “Listen,” he says, “I’ve got to go back to work, but if anything changes, if you have new intel about your location or your target, or … or if you just want to talk, don’t hesitate to contact us, okay? I mean it, Tom. Any time. Someone will be here.”</p>
<p>Even though the pounding in his head becomes harder to ignore, Tom feels warmth spread through him. “You mean you will be there.”</p>
<p>“Yes,” Will says softly.</p>
<p>Despite the shitty situation Tom is in, he smiles. “Thank you.”</p>
<p>“Just hold on, alright?” Will asks. “We’ll get you out of there. We’ll bring you home.”</p>
<p>Tom closes his eyes. “I know you will,” he says before he presses his thumb to the ring to end the call.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Chapter 20: Shackled (Prompt No. 1)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tw: swearing, mention of rats ;)</p><p>Characters and their codenames:<br/>Tom - Agent Galahad<br/>Will - Merlin<br/>Leslie - Agent Percival<br/>Joe - Agent Lancelot</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 20: Shackled (Prompt No. 1)</strong>
</p><p>When Tom wakes up again everything around him is quiet and still. Instead of lying in the cramped bunk of a car he finds he is now handcuffed to what he can only assume is a pipe judging by the feel of cold metal against his left arm. The ground beneath him is damp, and when he reaches out his other hand to explore his surroundings, he touches what feels like concrete. He pulls off the blindfold but the world is still pitch black around him, and he absolutely hates the feeling of unease that wells up in him when he realizes he has no way of knowing whether or not he’s alone right now. For all he knows his target could be sitting right in front of him, just out of reach, and grinning like the maniac he is.</p><p>Tom closes his eyes to center himself, hoping it will help calm him down somewhat. He spent months training for situations like this. All he has to do is remember what Leslie taught him and he’ll be fine. That’s all there is to it, he tries to tell himself as he digs through his memories to find Leslie among a thousand memories centered around Will.</p><p>Leslie’s unimpressed eyes stare back at him from the past as if daring him to forget and fail, and suddenly Tom knows what he has to do.</p><p>Holding his breath, he starts listening very carefully to his surroundings. The pounding of both his head and his heart aren’t really helping but after half a minute of silence he is almost one hundred percent certain he is alone.</p><p>
  <em>Good. </em>
</p><p>He raises his hand to reach for his ring, thanking whoever’s listening that his target shackled his right arm to the wall and not his left.</p><p>“Merlin?” he asks tentatively, this time sticking to codenames to be safe.</p><p>“I’m here,” comes Will’s immediate reply. Impossibly, his voice softens. “Hey. How are you?”</p><p>“Oh, you know,” Tom says casually. “Just hanging around.”</p><p>Will is silent for a moment. “You’re no longer in the car?”</p><p>“Nope,” Tom says, popping the p. “I’ve got an upgrade from car trunk to basement. Nice, huh? Bastard was even so kind as to shackle me to a pipe.” He shivers and wraps his free arm around his chest. His head thrums along with his heartbeat. “Can’t say I like it much down here, though. It’s cold and damp, and I think there are rats. Why does it always have to be rats?” He shudders. “Any chance of getting me out soon?”</p><p>Will hesitates – not a good sign. “Negative. We still can’t track you. I’ve been working with Lancelot and Percival to figure out what your target did to our systems but it’s slow-going, I’m afraid. I’m sorry.”</p><p>Tom sighs and gently lets his head fall against the wall behind him. “Still not your fault. That guy’s a right bastard – a clever one, granted, but still a bastard.”</p><p>“I know,” Will says quietly. He clears his throat. “How are you holding up? Any new injuries we need to know about?”</p><p>Already stiff with cold, Tom brings his hand up to his head to gingerly prod at the wound. “No, nothing new. But my head’s not bleeding anymore, so that’s good. I’ve got a killer headache, though. Is that how you feel every time you have a migraine? Because if so, it’s no wonder you always look like death warmed over when one hits you.”</p><p>“Thanks for the compliment, Galahad,” Will says dryly.</p><p>Tom chuckles. “Don’t worry. You’re still handsome, even pale as ghost and on the verge of being sick.”</p><p>On the other end of the line Will is quiet for so long that Tom can’t help but ask, “Will?”</p><p>He hears a shuddering intake of breath as if Will is fighting to keep his emotions under control. “I bet not even a bloody headwound could make you look anything less than dashing.”</p><p>Tom forces out a quiet laugh. “You know red’s my color.”</p><p>“It’s really not,” Will chokes out.</p><p>Before Tom can reply the sound of a key being turned sends his heartrate spiking. “Merlin,” he whispers quickly, urgently. “Someone’s coming. I’ve got to go.”</p><p>“Wait –“</p><p>Tom turns off the ring, effectively cutting Will off just as the door creaks open.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Chapter 21: Failed Escape (Prompt No. 5)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tw: swearing</p>
<p>Characters and their codenames:<br/>Tom - Agent Galahad<br/>Will - Merlin</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 21: Failed Escape (Prompt No. 5)</strong>
</p>
<p>Tom stays as still as possible as the footsteps slowly come closer. The only source of light comes from the door his target left slightly ajar – an unconscious decision on his part, perhaps, but one Tom is glad for because he can finally take a good look at his surroundings. The light dimly illuminates steep stairs at the other end of the room until the darkness swallows it, and Tom realizes that the basement is a lot bigger than he thought it was.</p>
<p>His target takes his time to approach him. The farther he walks from the stairs, the harder it becomes to make him out in the dark. He is obviously very sure that Tom, shackled to the wall as he is, presents no danger to him because when he squats down he is so close Tom can not only smell the expensive cologne he remembers from last night but also feel his breath on his face.</p>
<p><em>Good</em>, Tom thinks, slowly rotating his shackled wrist in a way that doesn’t arise suspicion. <em>Let him underestimate me.</em></p>
<p>When his target doesn’t say anything Tom decides it’s time for him to take the initiative.</p>
<p>“Fancy seeing you here,” he says conversationally. “Or, you know, <em>not-seeing</em> you. Why don’t you turn on a light, huh? This shrouded in darkness and mystery thing you’ve got going on here? Seriously overrated, bruv.”</p>
<p>His target lets out a harsh laugh. “Still a cocky little bastard, aren’t you?”</p>
<p>Tom shrugs. “Could say the same about you.”</p>
<p>“Mhm,” his target agrees. “But I’m not the one who’s handcuffed to a wall right now,” he points out and Tom can just imagine him sitting there, looking down at him with a self-satisfied smirk on his face. Everything in him itches to punch it off that pretty little face.</p>
<p>“We could switch,” he suggests instead. “Maybe you’d enjoy it, who know?”</p>
<p>His target huffs and probably rolls his eyes. “Nice try, spy boy,” he mocks.</p>
<p>Tom smiles, mentally preparing himself for what he’s about to do. “You’ve seen nothing yet.”</p>
<p>With that, he kicks out his leg as fast and hard as he can and sweeps his target off his feet. At the same time, he twists his right hand until the delicate bones break so he can slip out of the handcuffs. With both hands free now, he pushes himself to his feet, eyes locked onto the small ray of light on top of the stairs.</p>
<p>His legs immediately give out – probably due to cut-off circulation and the cold, his mind helpfully supplies – and, instinctively trying to break the fall, Tom lands right on his broken hand and <em>screams</em>.</p>
<p>Next to him, his target is already rousing again.</p>
<p><em>No</em>, Tom thinks while both his hand and head throb in agony. <em>No. </em></p>
<p>This is his one chance at escape, the one thing he can’t mess up if he wants to see his family again, his dog. <em>And Will</em>. God, he thinks, how much he longs to see Will’s beautiful eyes again, to hold his hand, to watch him fall asleep during a movie he’s not interested in but still willing to watch just because Tom asked him to. He wants to watch him play with Myrtle and Artemis again, bring him tea when he’s stressed out, and take him home in the evening.</p>
<p>He wants – no, he <em>needs</em> – to get back to Will, and that thought is enough for Tom to gather his strength and push himself back onto his feet once more.</p>
<p>His legs still refuse to cooperate, and this time he lands hard on his knees. Tears sting his eyes and with no other option left he starts crawling towards the stairs, the door, the light that promises freedom.</p>
<p>Behind him, his target chuckles. “Now, where do you think you’re going, hm?”</p>
<p>Tom crawls faster even though a part of him knows he has already lost. His target is only playing with him, like a cat that caught a mouse and knows it has no chance of escaping its fate. But he has to try anyway, doesn’t he? For his mum, and his brother. And for Will. Because Will asked him to hold on, and before he left for this mission Will asked him to come back to him and Tom would be damned if he didn’t at least try to keep that promise.</p>
<p>“Screw you,” he mutters at his target.</p>
<p>The man laughs. “Didn’t go so well for you the last time you tried that, did it?” he muses.</p>
<p>Tom wishes he could kick him again, maybe aim a bit better and break his leg this time. That would serve him right. He focuses his attention and energy on crawling forward instead, on willing his own legs to work again so he can make a run for it after all.</p>
<p>It’s no use, though. His body is responding too slowly and his headache is starting to make the room spin around him. Slowly, the realization sinks in that he’s had his chance and he botched it up.</p>
<p>He won’t get this lucky a second time.</p>
<p>The steps of his target come closer and Tom lets his head hang in defeat. The open door might as well be on the other side of the world for all the good it does him right now.</p>
<p>“What?” his target asks, sounding amused. “You already done with crawling all the way home to England?” He pauses and Tom looks up at him, looks at those crazy eyes in the dim light that he knows will haunt him for the rest of his life, however long that may be. “How about I bring your little spy friends to you instead, hm?” his target asks. “Because I can make that happen if you want.”</p>
<p>Any thoughts of escape flee Tom’s mind.</p>
<p>His target smiles.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Chapter 22: For the Greater Good (Prompt No. 9)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tw: swearing, injury, blood</p>
<p>Characters and their codenames:<br/>Tom - Agent Galahad<br/>Will - Merlin<br/>Joe - Agent Lancelot<br/>Leslie - Agent Percival<br/>Elizabeth - Morgana (Kingsman's doctor, Will's sister)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 22: For the Greater Good (Prompt No. 9)</strong>
</p>
<p>“Which one would you like for company, hm?” Tom’s target asks, sounding honestly curious.</p>
<p>Tom glares at him even as dread pools in his stomach. He bites his lip and keeps quiet.</p>
<p>His target chuckles. “How about your brother, hm? Handsome Sir Lancelot, the stuff legends are made of.” The man laughs – a dark, sarcastic sound that makes Tom’s skin crawl. “Or perhaps you would prefer the wizard?” his target muses with a finger against his lips. “You seem awfully close to him, sharing a house and all that. Very domestic if I may say so.”</p>
<p>A wave of fierce protectiveness swells up inside Tom and it’s only thanks to Leslie’s training that he manages to keep his face impassive even though everything in him itches to put a stop to this man before he hurts someone he loves. Tom has no doubt his target would kidnap Joe or Will just for the sheer thrill of messing with him. Dropping their codenames earlier sure as hell wasn’t an accident. He wanted Tom to know what he knows: that Joe’s his brother, that he knows where Tom lives and that he knows he’s not living alone. With all of that, Tom wouldn’t be surprised if he knew their real names, too.</p>
<p><em>This is bad</em>, he thinks. What the hell did he get himself into here?</p>
<p>Somehow, his target managed to keep tabs on both their personal and professional lives without anyone noticing, and it’s with that understanding that Tom realizes what a grave mistake he made when he turned off his ring earlier. Will and the rest of Kingsman need to hear this. They need to know they’re under surveillance and most likely have been for quite some time, and he cut them off.</p>
<p>As subtly as he can, Tom cradles his broken hand closer to his body and presses his thumb against his father’s ring to activate the microphone once more. Even though his heart beats so fast it feels like it’s trying to escape his chest, he forces himself to remain calm on the outside. The last thing he needs is his target noticing what he’s doing. Tom might have gambled his life away with his failed escape attempt, but he won’t do the same with Will and Joe’s lives. He’ll warn them, even if it’s the last good thing he ever does.</p>
<p>“You don’t need to take my brother or anyone else,” he finally says, trusting Will to realize he’s not talking to him and keep quiet. “You have me already, and you’ve managed to outsmart Kingsman. Isn’t that enough?”</p>
<p>His target pretends to think about it for a moment. “I don’t know. Is it? I wouldn’t mind some more company, Thomas. Don’t you?”</p>
<p><em>So he does know my name</em>, Tom thinks darkly. <em>Great.</em></p>
<p>“Nah,” he says out loud. “I’m quite good here on my own, thanks.”</p>
<p>To his surprise, his target shakes his head and makes a disappointed sound. “I don’t think that’s true. You thrive on human interaction, don’t you? I’ve seen it with my own eyes. You enjoy being the center of attention. You <em>love</em> being around people. The more, the merrier, right? I don’t believe you will do well after a few weeks of lonely isolation down here.”</p>
<p><em>I don’t plan to be here for a few days, let alone a few weeks, asshole, </em>Tom thinks.</p>
<p>“Maybe I’ll surprise you.”</p>
<p>His target snorts. “You haven’t so far.”</p>
<p>With one quick movement, he grabs Tom’s arms and turns him around just like he did in the hotel so Tom is on his back, looking up at him once more. Only this time, Tom expects it. He wastes no time and throws his head forward straight into his target’s face. With the little feeling that’s finally returned to his legs during their little chat he kicks him with everything he has right where it hurts the most.</p>
<p>The man groans and doubles over, and Tom does his best to scramble backwards and away from him. He doesn’t get far, though, because the room starts spinning around him almost immediately and dark spots begin to dance in his vision. He feels sick and his head is hurting with every harsh beat of his heart.</p>
<p>Turns out, headbutting someone with a concussion is not the best idea. Morgana will be so mad at him when she finds out what he did.  </p>
<p>Despite the nausea and dizziness, he still tries his best to climb the stairs that lead out of his prison. His hands scramble for hold on the rough stone steps but he’s not fast enough. Behind him, his target lets out a growl filled with rage. The man is on him so fast Tom barely has time to register the knife catching the dim light before his target shoves it hard into his stomach.</p>
<p>“Let’s see how well you do now, <em>spy</em>,” he spats before he swings his boot against Tom’s ribs and kicks him down the stairs.</p>
<p>Tom groans when he reaches the bottom and lies still for a moment, trying to breathe around the pain that seems to come from everywhere at once. His head feels like someone is hammering away at his brain, and his hand throbs along with it, creating an aching symphony of pain. It’s nothing compared to his stomach, though. It doesn’t ache, doesn’t throb – it <em>burns</em>.</p>
<p>Slowly, Tom moves the shaking fingers of his left hand down his chest to probe at the wound. His fingertips barely graze the edge of it before fire travels along his nerves with lightning speed. He draws his hand back as if burned, and when he looks down at his fingers they’re slick and red.</p>
<p><em>Oh</em>, he thinks.</p>
<p>His breathing stutters in his chest. Above him, his target laughs and closes the door with a deafening sound, cutting off what little light there had been to begin with. Impenetrable darkness descends upon Tom once more and a moment later, he hears a key being turned.</p>
<p>He knows he should move, knows he should do <em>something</em>, but he can’t remember what it is he’s supposed to do so he just lies there in the dark, his mind drifting. He’s dimly aware of someone calling his name, and a part of him recognizes the frantic voice as Will’s, but a different kind of darkness lurks at the edge of his vision now, promising him relief from the agonizing pain he feels with every breath, and Tom has no strength left to fight it.</p>
<p>He closes his eyes and welcomes the blissful oblivion that’s beckoning him.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And this concludes part 4. Tomorrow we'll continue with part 5: The rescue :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Chapter 23: Forced to Beg (Prompt No. 16)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tw: swearing</p>
<p>Characters and their codenames:<br/>Will - Merlin<br/>Tom - Agent Galahad<br/>Leslie - Agent Percival<br/>Joe - Agent Lancelot<br/>Erinmore - Arthur (Head of Kingsman)<br/>Lauri - Agent Martinique (French liaison)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Part 5: The rescue</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>Chapter 23: Forced to Beg (Prompt No. 16)</strong>
</p>
<p>“Tom? Tom! For god’s sake, answer me! <em>Tom</em>!”</p>
<p>Leslie’s cold hand settles over Will’s shaking fingers on the comms button.</p>
<p>“He’s most likely lost consciousness,” he says.</p>
<p>His voice is so uncharacteristically gentle it makes Will’s heart ache. “Or he could be dead,” he says softly. He swallows around the lump in his throat and looks up at Leslie. “Something happened there at the end. You heard him. He’s … he’s <em>hurt</em>.” He presses the button again, desperate. “Tom? Please come in.”</p>
<p>Leslie wipes a tired hand over his face before he forcefully removes Will’s hand from the keyboard.</p>
<p>“Look,” he says, “I know how you feel, alright? I’ve been through this before and we both know I was a mess for <em>days</em> when we lost contact with Joe. But expecting the worst is not going to help Tom right now, okay? So calm the fuck down and <em>think</em>.”</p>
<p>Will pulls his hand out of Leslie’s grip and glares at him. When Leslie does nothing but calmly stare back at him Will feels his anger slowly ebb as the turmoil in his mind begins to calm down. He takes a deep breath and forces his shoulders to relax. As much as he hates to admit it he knows Leslie is right. They were trained for situations like this, to remain calm and objective even when their own life or that of a loved one is on the line, and right now Will is neither of those things. He has no idea how Leslie managed to pull himself together when Joe’s life was in danger but he knows he needs to push away his fears and guilt and longing just like Leslie had to all those months ago and use that energy to come up with something that will actually help Tom.</p>
<p>“Okay,” Will says, taking another deep breath. “So we know Tom’s target kidnapped him and drove him somewhere underground where it’s damp. A house most likely since Tom thought he’s in a basement. We know his target is responsible for our system’s failure, and we know he knows who we are. My guess would be he’s out for revenge because we managed to warn Joe and evacuate the field hospital before his missile hit.” He looks up at Leslie. “How does that help us locate Tom?”</p>
<p>“You forgot the ring,” Leslie says. “Tom’s target doesn’t know about that.”</p>
<p>Will shakes his head. “We still can’t access the GPS to track it.”</p>
<p>For a second, Leslie’s eyes become vacant. Then they light up and despite himself Will feels a tiny flame of hope flicker alive in his chest. “We can’t access the GPS using our <em>own</em> satellites …”</p>
<p>Five minutes later, they’re in Arthur’s office.</p>
<p>“Sir,” Will says, “we might have found a way to locate Agent Galahad. If we could access one of ESA’s satellites through Agent Martinique in France, we’re sure we can track the GPS signal from Galahad’s ring and determine his location.”</p>
<p>Arthur looks from him to Leslie before he shakes his head. “Denied.”</p>
<p>“What?” Leslie sputters. “Why?”</p>
<p>“Because, Agent Percival,” Arthur begins, “we have been compromised and I’m not going to risk anymore agents or resources when we have bigger problems to deal with.”</p>
<p>“Bigger prob–“ Leslie laughs hysterically and Will can’t blame him. “With all due respect, <em>sir</em>, Agent Galahad’s target <em>is</em> our ‘bigger problem’. We know the guy is behind all of this.”</p>
<p>Will nods in agreement. “Agent Galahad managed to transmit this intel just before he lost consciousness.” He pauses and swallows his pride. “Please, sir. We have reason to believe that Tom – Agent Galahad – has been critically injured. Time is running out. Give us at least the chance to find him.”</p>
<p>“And if we manage that, we’ll also find the one who compromised Kingsman,” Leslie adds.</p>
<p>“And we’ll find out <em>how</em> he did it,” Will says. “Please, sir.”</p>
<p>Arthur is silent for so long that Will feels that tiny flame of hope within him slowly go out. In that moment it hits him that he might never get to see Tom again and watch his eyes crinkle up in laughter. He might never hear him tell one of his ridiculous stories again, or fall asleep next to him on the couch after a long day, or wake up in the morning to the sound of him singing in the kitchen.</p>
<p>He might never hold his hand again, might never share with him all those things he keeps so awfully close to his heart.</p>
<p>The thought is almost too much to bear.</p>
<p>He balls his hand into a fist at his side and lets his head hang.</p>
<p>“<em>Please</em>, sir,” he repeats desperately. “We don’t leave people behind. Galahad … Tom’s a good man. Let us bring him home.”</p>
<p>Something flickers across Arthur’s face – a rare moment of compassion – before Arthur lets out a sigh. “Very well. Agent Percival, contact Agent Martinique and see what she can do about those satellites.” He turns to Will. “You take Agent Lancelot and fly to Germany on the off chance that this will work.”</p>
<p>“I’m going, too,” Leslie says at once.</p>
<p>Arthur silences him with a look. “Don’t test me, son,” he says, and Leslie grimaces at the last word. “If time is as much of the essence as you make it out to be, we can’t wait for Agent Martinique to give us access to the satellites. With Merlin gone, I need someone to man his station and right now you’re the best one for that job.”</p>
<p>Leslie grits his teeth. “Fine.”</p>
<p>Arthur nods. “Good.” He looks at Will. “Saving Agent Galahad is important but your first priority is securing the target and whatever information he has on him that could help us fix this mess. Do you understand, Merlin?”</p>
<p>“Yes, sir,” Will grinds out, not caring one bit about their target. “Permission to leave at once?”</p>
<p>“Permission granted.”</p>
<p>Will starts running.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Chapter 24: Blood Loss (Prompt No. 10)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tw: swearing, injuries</p>
<p>Characters and their codenames<br/>Tom - Agent Galahad<br/>Leslie - Agent Percival<br/>Will - Merlin<br/>Joe - Agent Lancelot</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 24: Blood Loss (Prompt No. 10)</strong>
</p>
<p>Tom groans as he comes to. Every inch of his body is hurting in some way, starting with his never-ending headache and ending with –</p>
<p><em>Fuck me</em>, he thinks as his hand brushes against the knife in his stomach. Right. That happened.</p>
<p>Slowly and very carefully, he tries to push himself up from his position on the ground. Pain flares up in his stomach, in his broken hand, in his head, <em>everywhere </em>but he grits his teeth and does his best to ignore it. He reaches for the railing of the stairs behind him and he pulls himself up with what little strength he still has until his back is finally resting against the wall.</p>
<p>He closes his eyes and <em>breathes</em>.</p>
<p>“Tom?” Leslie’s staticky voice suddenly cuts through the silence. “Tom, are you there? Can you hear me? For fuck’s sake, respond, dammit!”</p>
<p>Tom would have laughed if he could. “I’m here, Leslie,” he croaks out and lets his head gently fall against the wall behind him.</p>
<p>“Oh, thank fuck,” Leslie breathes in relief. Tom wonders if he sounded like that when he heard Joe’s voice for the first time after his comms failed, too. “What’s your status?”</p>
<p>Looking down at the bloody knife handle still sticking out of his skin, Tom grimaces. “I, uh, I think I got stabbed.”</p>
<p>There’s a pause on the other end of the line. “You <em>think</em>?” Leslie asks.</p>
<p>“No, I mean, I <em>did</em> get stabbed,” Tom says, trying to blink away the confusion. “The knife’s still in me.” He looks at it and frowns. An idea takes root in his mind. “Should I pull it out?”</p>
<p>“What? No!” Leslie exclaims. “Absolutely not! Are you stupid? Didn’t you listen when Morgana taught you first aid?”</p>
<p>Tom tries to remember that particular lesson. “I … I think so? She was very … stern about … something.”</p>
<p>He hears Leslie groan. “Oh, for fuck’s sake, you were ogling Will, weren’t you? Of course you were.”</p>
<p>“Maybe,” Tom says weakly. Who can blame him? Will is nice to look at, even unconscious as he still was back then. Tom prefers him awake though, because then Will can look back at him with those gorgeous blue eyes of his that never fail to make his heart flutter. Especially when Will smiles. He has a beautiful smile. One that lights up his whole face and softens it at the same time.</p>
<p>“Tom?” Leslie’s voice interrupts his drifting thoughts.</p>
<p>“Still here,” Tom murmurs. He takes a shuddering breath. “Hey,” he says, only now noticing that something’s amiss. “Why am I talking you? Where is Will? Is he okay?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, don’t worry,” Leslie says. “He and your brother went on a little trip.”</p>
<p>Hope blossoms in Tom’s chest, pushing the pain to the very edges of his mind for one blissful moment. “They did?”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Leslie confirms. “So you just need to hold on a little longer, okay?</p>
<p>Tom nods even though he knows Leslie can’t see it. Will told him to hold on, too. He remembers that, and remembers that he promised Will that he would. He closes his eyes and lets out a soft breath. “Just hold on,” he repeats softly.</p>
<p>“Yes,” Leslie says. “Now: are you hurt anywhere else?”</p>
<p>“No,” Tom tells him. “It’s just my head and the knife wound.”</p>
<p>Leslie snorts. “That’s more than enough. Listen, kid, before he left Will told me he added another feature to your ring that he didn’t have time to test yet. It’s a spray, a prototype Morgana developed, that can close wounds. Theoretically.”</p>
<p>Tom’s thoughts are moving so slowly he can barely comprehend what Leslie is telling him. “In my ring?” he asks, slurring the words. “He didn’t tell me. Why?”</p>
<p>“Because he didn’t have time to test it yet,” Leslie repeats patiently. “We’re going to give it a try anyway, okay?”</p>
<p>“Okay,” Tom nods. He doesn’t really get why this is important right now but he trusts Morgana’s medicine and Will’s tech.</p>
<p>He would trust Will with his life.</p>
<p>“Alright, press the top of your ring against your wound,“ Leslie instructs. Tom does what he says, glad that Leslie can’t see how much his hand is shaking right now. “Then press the underside of the ring with your thumb.”</p>
<p>A clear, cool liquid is ejected from the ring. It coats his wound and to Tom’s surprise, actually manages to stop the bleeding.</p>
<p>It also burns like hell.</p>
<p>“Did it work?” Leslie asks after a moment, sounding tense.</p>
<p>“Yes,” Tom grits out. “I think so.”</p>
<p>Leslie lets out a breath. “Thank fuck.”</p>
<p>Stars dance across Tom’s vision – brilliant, vibrant, colorful. “I think I’m going to pass out now, Leslie.”</p>
<p>His fingers slip from his wound just as Leslie says, “Don’t you dare!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Chapter 25: "Don't Say Goodbye" (Prompt No. 8)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Characters and their codenames:<br/>Leslie - Agent Percival<br/>Tom - Agent Galahad <br/>Will - Merlin<br/>Joe - Agent Lancelot</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 25: "Don't Say Goodbye" (Prompt No. 8)</strong>
</p>
<p>“Heads up,” Leslie’s voice comes over their comms just after they landed in Germany. “I’ve got good news and bad news. Good news is: I’ve just talked to Galahad and the medical stuff from the ring? It worked. Bad news: Galahad was stabbed and just lost consciousness again.”</p>
<p>Will closes his eyes and takes a deep calming breath. “Thank you, Percival. We’ll take it from here. ETA to Galahad’s location is approximately one hour.”</p>
<p>“I’ll transfer the line from Galahad’s ring to your glasses,” Leslie says. “Good luck on your mission.” Then, after a pause, “Stay safe, and bring him home.”</p>
<p>“Will do,” Joe reassures him. “See you soon.”</p>
<p>They step into the car that is waiting for them and Joe wastes no time getting them out of the airport and onto the Autobahn. They don’t talk, both listening to the sound of Tom’s quiet breathing coming from the glasses, desperate for his voice to fill the silence as it so often does.</p>
<p>Nothing happens for half an hour. Will keeps alternating between biting his lip in worry or balling up his fist in the fabric of his suit to keep his nervous fingers busy. At random intervals, he tries to talk to Tom and wake him up but there’s never a response. They pass trees and rest stops, houses and fields, and even though every kilometer brings them closer to Tom, it feels like they’re going nowhere.</p>
<p>At one point he catches Joe shooting him a worried look.</p>
<p>“He’ll be fine,” Joe says then, and Will gets the feeling he does it for both their sakes. “Tom’s a lot tougher than he looks.”</p>
<p>“I know that,” Will sighs, trying to smooth out the wrinkles in his suit for lack of anything better to do. “But he’s been stuck underground for the last few hours, and he was bleeding. That … that’s not good, Joe.”</p>
<p>Joe’s shoulders fall. “Yeah, I know.”</p>
<p>Heavy silence descends upon them again, only this time it only lasts a few seconds before it is interrupted.</p>
<p>“Will?” Tom’s voice is faint and raspy but it’s unmistakably there and that’s enough for Will’s heart to miss a beat.</p>
<p>“Yes!” he exclaims, turning to look at Joe with wide, almost disbelieving eyes. “Yes, I’m here, and your brother is, too. Thank god you’re okay.”</p>
<p>“Will,” Tom says again, a bit more quietly this time. Weaker. In the back of his mind Will realizes that it’s a bad sign that Tom’s broken protocol by not calling him by his codename, but he can’t bring himself to care, especially not when Tom whispers, “It hurts.”</p>
<p>Will swallows past the pain those two words bring him.</p>
<p>“I know,” he says as gently as he can. “It’ll be over soon, I promise. We’re almost there.”</p>
<p>Tom is quiet. His shaky breaths are the only sounds in the car for a few awful seconds before he asks, “Am I dying?”</p>
<p>He sounds bewildered, as if he’s not quite sure what’s going on, and Will’s heart breaks somewhere between the Black Forest and the Alps.</p>
<p>He looks up at the ceiling of the car and tries to blink away the tears that burn his eyes. “No. No, you are not,” he tells Tom as calmly as he can. “We’ll be with you soon, and you’ll be fine. You’ll be just fine.”</p>
<p>“I don’t think I will,” Tom confesses. His voice has almost lowered to a whisper. “Something feels wrong.”</p>
<p>Will can hear his breath rattling in his throat as if there’s fluid in his lungs. He looks over at Joe and is almost taken aback by the look of sheer determination in his friend’s damp eyes.</p>
<p>The car speeds up.</p>
<p>“You need to hold on just a little longer,” Will says, trying to keep his voice steady. “You promised to come back to me, remember?”</p>
<p>When Tom lets out a broken sob, the pieces of Will’s heart shatter into tiny fragments of dust.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry,” Tom says, his breath hitching. “I’m so sorry, Will. I don’t think I can keep that promise.”</p>
<p>“Don’t say that,” Will tells him, not caring any longer if his voice is trembling. “Don’t you dare say that. Just – <em>don’t</em>. We’ll be there soon, okay? Joe and I, we’ll find you and –“</p>
<p>“I wish the last person I kissed was you,” Tom suddenly says.</p>
<p>Joe, the car, the street, the rain on the windows, the trees and fields and houses they pass – it all ceases to exist. Will’s world narrows down to Tom’s voice, to the love and longing and regret he hears beneath the pain, until there is only the idea of a kiss that never happened in his mind.</p>
<p>It’s both too much and not enough at all.</p>
<p>The tears finally spill over and, not knowing what to say, he helplessly chokes out, “<em>Tom</em>.”</p>
<p>“Take care of Myrtle for me, yeah?” Tom asks, completely oblivious to the emotional roller-coaster Will is currently on without a safety belt. “And Joe?”</p>
<p>Joe clears his throat. “Yeah, little brother?”</p>
<p>“Tell mum I love her. Tell her I wasn’t scared.”</p>
<p>Joe’s grip on the steering wheel tightens. He takes a shuddering breath before he forces himself to nod. “If it comes to it, I will. I promise.”</p>
<p>“Thank you,” Tom breathes in obvious relief. He sounds at peace, and Will panics.</p>
<p>“Stay awake!” he urges. “Tom, do you hear me? You have to stay awake!”</p>
<p>Tom’s breathing is soft over the comms. Faint.</p>
<p>“I’m trying,” he murmurs. “It’s hard, Will. Everything’s dark, and I’m so tired.”</p>
<p>“We’re almost there,” Will pleads softly. “Please, Tom. <em>Please </em>keep talking.”</p>
<p>He listens for a reply that doesn’t come.</p>
<p>“Tom?”</p>
<p>Nothing.</p>
<p>Will squeezes his eyes shut and hangs his head.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Chapter 26: Broken Hearts (Prompt No. 19)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tw: swearing, violence</p>
<p>Characters and their codenames:<br/>Will - Merlin<br/>Joe - Agent Lancelot<br/>Tom -Agent Galahad<br/>Erinmore - Arthur (Head of Kingsman)<br/>Elizabeth - Morgana (Kingsman's doctor, Will's sister)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 26: Broken Hearts (Prompt No. 19)</strong>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <em>In and out. </em>
</p>
<p>Just breathe.</p>
<p>
  <em>In and out. </em>
</p>
<p>Again.</p>
<p>
  <em>In and out. </em>
</p>
<p>He’ll be fine.</p>
<p>
  <em>In and out. </em>
</p>
<p>The wound is sealed.</p>
<p>
  <em>In and out. </em>
</p>
<p>He’s just lost consciousness.</p>
<p>
  <em>In and out. </em>
</p>
<p>We’re almost there.</p>
<p>
  <em>In and out. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>In and out. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>In and out. </em>
</p>
<p>Will roughly wipes his tears away. “How much farther?” he asks, voice uncharacteristically hoarse.</p>
<p>Joe briefly glances at him without turning his head before his eyes return to the road. “Five more minutes, give or take.”</p>
<p>Taking a shaky breath, Will nods. Five minutes. Three-hundred seconds that separate him from Tom. There is no clock he can watch tick – only four red numbers that glare at him in the dusk. He stares at them, waiting for them to change, <em>willing</em> them to change faster, <em>needing</em> them to change <em>now</em>.</p>
<p>20:46</p>
<p>“When we arrive,” Joe begins without taking his eyes off the road, “I’ll go in first to secure the target.”</p>
<p>His voice leaves no room for argument – not that Will intends to fight him on this. He couldn’t care less about their target. It’s Tom he’s worried about.</p>
<p>It’s Tom he <em>cares</em> about.</p>
<p>It’s Tom he cares <em>for</em>.  </p>
<p>20:47</p>
<p>“You don’t intervene unless it is absolutely necessary,” Joe continues. “I know you’ve been training again and that you can fight even with only one arm but you’re not an agent anymore and … and Tom needs at least one of us to come out of this mission unharmed, okay?”</p>
<p>Will nods. “Understood.”</p>
<p>Joe exhales softly as if Will’s words just lifted a huge weight off his chest. “Good. You got the med kit ready?”</p>
<p>Will reaches for it on the backseat and holds it close to his chest. “I do.”</p>
<p>“Good. You know what to do?”</p>
<p>Will nods. “Yes. Beth told me.”</p>
<p>20:48</p>
<p>Joe takes a turn off the road and instead of concrete their tires are now hitting dust and pinecones.</p>
<p>“Almost there,” Joe murmurs.</p>
<p>Will swallows hard. He can’t hear Tom’s breathing over the sounds of the car anymore. Dread pools in his stomach.</p>
<p>“What if he’s already dead when we arrive?” he asks what he knows both he and Joe fear.</p>
<p>The look on Joe’s face becomes one of determination, “We bring him home one way or the other.”</p>
<p>“Okay,” Will whispers.</p>
<p>20:49</p>
<p>They drive deeper into the woods. The trees close in around them.</p>
<p>“I didn’t know he liked me like that,” Will says, unable to take the silence any longer. “I had no idea.”</p>
<p>Joe lets out a laugh, a harsh and ugly sound. “Really? It’s not like Tom has been subtle about his feelings for you.”</p>
<p>Will frowns and turns his head to look at him. “What do you mean?”</p>
<p>“He stayed with you when you were in a coma even though he didn’t know you,” Joe starts pointing out. “Then he <em>continued</em> to stay with you after you woke up and did all he could to become your friend. When Arthur had all but kicked you out of Kingsman he fought tooth and nails so you could stay and when he succeeded he asked you <em>to live</em> with him.” He pauses to give Will a look. “Shall I go on?”</p>
<p>Will stares down at the med kit in his arms. “I just thought he was being kind.”</p>
<p>Joe sighs. “With Leslie, Tom is <em>being kind</em>,” he says, using Will’s own words. “With <em>you</em>, he’s completely head over heels in love.”</p>
<p><em>Love</em>, Will thinks faintly. Such a simple world. Only four letters and yet they seem to hold the answers to all the questions he never dared to ask.</p>
<p>Because Tom is <em>in love</em> with him and –</p>
<p>“I didn’t know,” Will whispers, grief-stricken. “I didn’t know.”</p>
<p>He feels sick.</p>
<p>20:50</p>
<p>The trees around them begin to part around a clearing. On the other side of it, Will can just make out a house in the dusk. Joe stops the car and turns off the lights.</p>
<p>“Ready?” he asks quietly, turning to look at Will.</p>
<p>Will takes a deep breath and nods. “Ready.”</p>
<p>20:51</p>
<p>They sneak alongside the edge of the clearing towards the house as stealthily and fast as they can. Will stays back as Joe kicks in the door, holding onto the med kit as if it’s a lifeline. Joe rushes inside and Will follows him, trying to stay out of the way as Joe makes a beeline for their target. He doesn’t waste any time to punch him in his pretty, stupidly surprised face.</p>
<p>Something makes an ugly sound, and Will knows their target’s nose just took the brunt of Joe’s wrath.</p>
<p><em>Serves him right</em>, he thinks even as Joe punches the man again, and again, and then a fourth time for good measure until their target doesn’t move anymore.</p>
<p>“Is he dead?” Will asks.</p>
<p>Joe shakes his head. “No, just knocked out,” he grumbles as he pulls out a pair of handcuffs. “Arthur would kill me if I dopped this scumbag.” He yanks their target’s arms behind his back with more force than is probably necessary. “Go find Tom. I’ll deal with our mutual friend here.”</p>
<p>Will doesn’t have to be told twice. He hurries out of the room.</p>
<p>20:52</p>
<p>There’s a door that leads down to the basement.</p>
<p>Will opens it with a shaking hand, afraid of what he’ll find. As he walks into the dark, there is only one thought in his mind.</p>
<p>
  <em>Please don’t be dead. </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0027"><h2>27. Chapter 27: "Stop, please" (Prompt No. 6)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tw: injuries, blood, pain meds</p>
<p>Characters and their codenames:<br/>Will - Merlin<br/>Tom - Agent Galahad<br/>Leslie - Agent Percival<br/>Elizabeth - Morgana (Kingsman's doctor, Will's sister)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 27: "Stop, please" (Prompt No. 6)</strong>
</p>
<p>The first thing Will sees in the dim light of the basement is a red smear at the bottom of the stairs. He knows it can only be one thing and, closing his eyes for a short moment, he takes a deep breath and prepares himself for the worst.</p>
<p>With trembling fingers, he flicks on the lights.</p>
<p>Harsh white light illuminates the basement, the cobwebs, the blood on the floor and –</p>
<p>“Tom!” Will exclaims and rushes to the slumped figure leaning against the wall next to the stairs. He crashes hard to his knees but barely notices the pain in his desperation to find Tom’s pulse. His fingers press against cold, pale skin and it takes an eternity until he finally feels a faint thrum beneath his fingertips.</p>
<p>He briefly rests his forehead against Tom’s temple to calm down his racing heart as a rush of relief goes through him. When he pulls back, he can’t help but cradle Tom’s head in his hand.</p>
<p>“Tom?” he tries. “Tom, please. Wake up.”</p>
<p>Tom doesn’t.</p>
<p>Disappointed, Will allows his eyes to roam over Tom’s body and take in the bruised forehead, the blood-matted hair, the scrapes and bruises littering Tom’s chest, the swollen and broken hand –  </p>
<p>And finally, the bloody knife stuck in Tom’s stomach.</p>
<p>Will forces himself to take a closer look even as bile rises in his throat. The wound has stopped bleeding, just like Leslie said, but that’s only a small relief. They can’t transport Tom to the airport like this, can’t risk the knife moving and causing even more damage than it already has. It has to go, and even though Elizabeth prepared him for this, told him what to do in her calm and efficient manner when they were already somewhere above the North Sea, Will now finds his hand shaking as he reaches for the med kit.</p>
<p>He’s going to hurt Tom, something he swore to himself he would never do. He knows it’s necessary, that he has to do this if he wants to save Tom’s life, but that doesn’t make it any easier, not when he knows he can’t even give Tom any drugs to dull the pain until he stabilizes.</p>
<p>Will’s eyes flick between Tom’s slack face and the knife.</p>
<p><em>I’m sorry</em>, he thinks, hoping Tom will forgive him for this one day. Then he locks his feelings into the deepest part of his mind, grips the handle of the knife tightly and <em>pulls</em>.</p>
<p>Tom comes to with a scream.</p>
<p>Will throws the knife as far away as he can, hears it clattering to the ground, and it’s all he can do to keep Tom from doubling over in pain and hurting himself even more. He pushes his shoulder against Tom’s chest to hold him still and uses his hand to press a pad of gauze against the wound – special gauze made by Elizabeth that, if everything goes well, will close the wound and allow tiny nanobots to enter Tom’s system and repair the worst of the damage until they get back to England.</p>
<p>“It’s okay,” Will whispers even as Tom struggles against him. “It’s okay. Just relax.”</p>
<p>Tom sobs into his shoulder. “Stop, <em>please</em>. Stop. Let me go.”</p>
<p>Will swallows down tears. “I can’t. I know it hurts but you need to stay still. I’m sorry, Tom.”</p>
<p>Tom’s fingers weakly try to pull Will’s hand away from his stomach. Will interlaces his own with them and keeps up the pressure on the wound.</p>
<p>“We’ll get you home,” he whispers in a desperate attempt to take Tom’s mind off the pain until Joe is done with their target upstairs and comes to get them. “Myrtle is missing you so much, you know? She doesn’t like it when you’re gone, keeps whining and looking for you, the poor girl. And Artemis isn’t any better. I swear, my dog loves you more than she loves me.” He lets out a wet chuckle that turns into a sob. “They need you to come home, okay? <em>I</em> need you to come home.”</p>
<p>Tom finally stops struggling against him. He slumps against Will like a puppet with its string cut. “Make it stop,” he begs weakly.</p>
<p>Will chokes back another sob. “Just a little longer,” he whispers. “And then we’ll get you home, okay? Beth will fix you up in record time and then we’ll go away for a little while. Just the two of us on some tropical island in the middle of nowhere. How does that sound?”</p>
<p>“I’m not leaving the dogs,” Tom says through gritted teeth.</p>
<p>Will huffs out a laugh. “Of course not,” he says. “How about Scotland, then? We could go camping and hiking around Loch Lomond. You like the Highlands, don’t you? The dogs would love it there.” </p>
<p>A shudder wrecks Tom’s body and Will applies more pressure to his wound.</p>
<p>“You once … you once told me you hate camping,” Tom gasps against his neck. His breath comes out in short, erratic bursts that make Will wish he still had a second hand so he could cup Tom’s cheek and hold him close.</p>
<p>“You love it, though,” Will says softly. “That’s good enough for me.” He closes his eyes and rests his cheek against Tom’s hair, careful not to aggravate his head wound. “We could build a fire in the evening and watch the stars.”</p>
<p>Tom’s breathing hitches. “Sounds romantic,” he murmurs.</p>
<p>Will smiles against his hair and doesn’t even try to hold back his tears. “It does.”</p>
<p>He doesn’t know how much time has passed since he found Tom, how long he’s been down in this basement holding the person that matters most to him in the world in his arms and trying to keep him from bleeding out or going into shock. It feels like an eternity, though part of him knows no more than a few minutes have likely gone by.</p>
<p>Still, it’s enough for Will to slowly ease his hand back from Tom’s wound. To his relief, the gauze stays attached to Tom’s skin and no fresh blood wells up around it.</p>
<p>The tension in Tom’s body eases a little.</p>
<p>“That’s … better,” he murmurs.</p>
<p>Will checks his pulse with his bloody fingers before reaches for the med kit once more and pulls out something his sister fondly calls a hypospray.</p>
<p>“I can only give you a mild dose,” he tells Tom. “You’re not stable enough for more yet but this will take the edge off the pain a little at least.”</p>
<p>The moment the drugs enter Tom’s system, his face visibly relaxes. “Thank you,” he breathes.</p>
<p>Will shakes his head.</p>
<p>“Don’t,” he chokes out. “Don’t thank me when I let this happen to you.”</p>
<p>To his surprise, Tom’s hand gently settles over his. “Not your fault, Will,” he mumbles. “I always knew you’d find me.”</p>
<p>Huffing out a soft breath, Will bows his head and holds his hand. “You have too much faith in me,” he whispers against Tom’s skin.</p>
<p>“Nah,” Tom says softly. “You just don’t have enough.”</p>
<p>Despite his tears, Will smiles.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0028"><h2>28. Chapter 28: I don't feel so well (Prompt No. 21)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tw: blood, injury, pain medication, swearing</p>
<p>Characters and their codenames:<br/>Joe - Agent Lancelot<br/>Tom - Agent Galahad<br/>Will - Merlin<br/>Leslie - Agent Percival<br/>Elizabeth - Morgana (Kingsman's doctor, Will's sister)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Part 6: The Aftermath</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>Chapter 28: I don't feel so well (Prompt No. 21)</strong>
</p>
<p>When Joe finds them Will is curled up around Tom’s bloody body, holding him close and murmuring words that are too soft for Joe to hear. Tom weakly clings to him, his broken hand be damned, but at least the knife is gone. There’s blood all over the both of them, making what little Joe can see of their skin appear pale and sickly, and when Will looks up, his blue eyes are wide and haunted.</p>
<p>In that moment, a part of Joe feels relieved that he only had to deal with their target and his tech, and not with performing emergency first aid on his brother. Even the thought of causing Tom pain, no matter how necessary, makes him feel sick to his stomach.</p>
<p>“Hey,” he says softly as he comes down the stairs. Tom’s eyes slowly blink open. “How is my favorite brother?”</p>
<p>Tom frowns at him. “I’m your only brother,” he murmurs, and Joe smiles. Then, “I’m not doing so hot, Joe. Everything hurts.”</p>
<p>“I bet it does,” Joe says gently as he crouches down next to him. He takes in the bloody gauze on Tom’s stomach and wishes he could take away his pain, would give anything to take it on himself. Judging by the look on Will’s face, he wishes it too. But they can’t help beyond what Will has already done. All they can do now is get Tom back to Kingsman and Morgana as fast as possible, and for that they need to get him out of the basement first.</p>
<p>Joe’s not looking forward to that.</p>
<p>“Our target’s secured in the car, as is all his tech,” he tells Will quietly. “Time to go.”</p>
<p>He packs up the med kit and steadies Tom so Will can get his arm around him. They try not to jostle Tom too much but even this small movement makes him groan in pain. Joe tries to tune out the painful sound as he wraps his own arm around Tom from the other side. He counts to three and together with Will he pulls Tom to his feet.</p>
<p>Tom bites back a scream. “Fuck, stop! Please, stop! Just let me sit. Let me sit,” he begs.</p>
<p>“No can do,” Joe mumbles through gritted teeth. He’s never heard Tom sound like that before, never heard him beg and plead for anything like this in his life. To see the tears on his face now, to hear his pained, gasping breaths and whimpers as they force him to his feet breaks Joe’s heart more than anything else possibly could.</p>
<p>Once Tom is standing, they give him a moment to catch his breath. He threatens to double over almost immediately, and Joe is quick to reach out with his other arm to steady him. He looks over at Will to see how he’s doing and is taken aback by how drained he looks. It reminds him uncomfortably of Ecoust, of that one horrible night when he held Will in his arms and prayed to whoever was listening that help would arrive soon.</p>
<p>“You okay?” he asks Will.</p>
<p>Will slowly drags his eyes away from Tom’s pained face. “Of course.”</p>
<p>Joe doesn’t believe him but the last thing Tom needs right now is the both of them arguing, so he simply readjusts his grip around Tom’s shoulders and says, “Then let’s go.”</p>
<p>Getting Tom up the stairs takes so long there are moments Joe thinks they’ll never make it. They have to stop on every step, and by the time they finally reach the top of the stairs Tom has taken to burying his face as best as he can in Will’s shoulder. Joe is pretty sure he does it to hide his tears from him, and the thought makes his throat close up.</p>
<p>He’s thankful he had the foresight to repark the car in front of the house after he locked their target in the trunk (<em>Karma’s a bitch, asshole</em>, he thought when he closed the lid) because it’s clear that after the ordeal of the stairs Tom barely has enough energy left to make it out of the house. They try to be as gentle as they can when they maneuver him into the backseat but Tom can barely hold back his pained gasps.</p>
<p>Will gets in next to him, and Joe hands him the med kit.</p>
<p>His hands are shaking.</p>
<p>Wasting no time, he rechecks the timer he set on the house (ten more minutes, and the whole thing will blow up) before he gets into the front seat and drives them away from this horrible place as fast as he can. He’s dimly aware of Will talking to Morgana over the comms, and tries not to feel anything when he hears Will beg, “Please, he’s in so much pain. Let me give him<em> something.</em>”</p>
<p>A minute later, Tom’s whimpers become quieter before they almost fade away completely and Joe releases the breath he didn’t know he was holding.</p>
<p>“Is he out?” he asks.</p>
<p>He hears Will sniff. “Not quite. Can’t give him that much.”</p>
<p>Joe nods and pushes down the gas pedal. Breaking speed limits is the last of their problems right now.</p>
<p>He taps his glasses to call Leslie. “We have Galahad,” he says without preamble. “Make sure our plane is ready to go.”</p>
<p>“Already done,” Leslie says. He pauses and his voice becomes quiet, more personal – less like Agent Percival and more like the Leslie he knows and loves. “How is he?”</p>
<p>Joe glances at the rearview mirror, sees his brother holding onto Will’s hand with what little strength he still has left in search of comfort and relief from the pain.</p>
<p>“Not good,” he whispers. “Not good at all.”</p>
<p>“But he’s alive?” Leslie asks, an uncharacteristic hint of anxiety and urgency in his tone that gives Joe a glimpse into how Leslie must have been when he was lost in France.</p>
<p>“Yes,” he says. “He’s alive.”</p>
<p>“Thank fuck,” Leslie breathes.</p>
<p><em>Yes</em>, Joe agrees. <em>Thank fuck.</em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0029"><h2>29. Chapter 29: Disorientation (Prompt No. 25)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tw: blood, injuries</p>
<p>Characters and their codenames:<br/>Will - Merlin<br/>Tom - Agent Galahad<br/>Elizabeth - Morgana (Kingsman's doctor, Will's sister)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 29: Disorientation (Prompt No. 25)</strong>
</p>
<p>Once they have Tom strapped to the gurney on the plane and leave the fields and trees of Germany below them, Will feels the tension in his chest that made it hard to breathe for the last few hours finally ease a little. Despite that, his hand is still trembling more than he’d like when he connects Tom to the heart monitor but at least the motions are familiar to him. He’s done this before – not often but often enough to know what he is doing, and that helps a little to calm the panic threatening to well up beneath his skin at least somewhat. His sister’s diligent training is certainly paying off.</p>
<p>“What are you doing?” Tom suddenly mumbles below him, pulling Will from his thoughts. Will’s fingers freeze mid-air as he meets Tom’s eyes.</p>
<p>“Making sure your heartrate is fine,” he tells Tom softly.  </p>
<p>“Oh,” Tom says. He looks around and his brow furrows in confusion. “Where am I?”</p>
<p>Mindful of the bruises, Will places another electrode on Tom’s chest, just how Elizabeth taught him to do. “In the plane.”</p>
<p>Tom blinks at him. “The plane?” he asks slowly. Then he frowns. “I don’t like planes.”</p>
<p>Will pauses in his movements. “I didn’t know that.”</p>
<p>“Is embarrassing,” Tom murmurs, and that soft admission makes Will’s heart clench painfully. Before he can tell Tom that it’s really not, Tom asks, “Where are we going?”</p>
<p>“Home,” Will says with a trembling smile. “We’re going home, Tom.”</p>
<p>But Tom isn’t listening. Instead he’s looking down at his chest, at the blood still marring his pale skin.</p>
<p>“I’ve been hit,” he suddenly says. His voice is awfully calm as he stares at his wound. “What was it?”</p>
<p>Will takes his hand before he can start picking at the gauze. “You were stabbed,” he says.</p>
<p>Tom’s eyes meet his in surprise. “I … I don’t remember.”</p>
<p>“That’s okay,” Will tells him softly even though he knows it’s not. His stomach twists into knots and once more it’s getting harder to breathe. “Don’t worry about it.”</p>
<p>He watches as Tom’s gaze roams over his face, his body, his hand. “Did you get stabbed, too?”</p>
<p>Will glances down at his bloody clothes. “No,” he says quietly. “I didn’t.”</p>
<p>Seemingly satisfied with that answer, Tom relaxes back onto the gurney. “Good,” he murmurs. “Don’t like seeing you hurt.”</p>
<p>Will closes his eyes for a brief moment, unable to stop the sudden tears from welling over. If Tom only knew how much he is hurting right now, how much seeing him like this <em>pains</em> him, how scared out of his mind he is of losing him. But in the end none of that matters, not right now, now when Will is not the one injured here. The last thing he needs is for Tom to become agitated because of him and aggravate his wounds even further, so he forces himself to give him another smile, meant to reassure.</p>
<p>It’s only when Tom frowns up at him and reaches out to touch his face that Will realizes it’s already too late for that.</p>
<p>“You’re crying,” Tom whispers. His cold fingers follow the tear tracks on Will’s cheek. “Why?”</p>
<p>Will swallows hard. “Because I’m happy,” he lies. “I’m happy to have you back.”</p>
<p>Tom’s fingers pause at the edge of Will’s lips. “You don’t look happy,” he says. “You look sad. Is it because of me?”</p>
<p>Will’s breathing hitches, and he breaks. Unable to keep his emotions at bay, he bows his head as his shoulders begin to shake. Tom’s fingers fall from his face and come to rest on top of his hand. “You worry too much,” he says softly. “One day, your hairs will turn grey because of it.”</p>
<p>Those words are the last thing Will expects to hear, and he’s so surprised he can’t help but choke out a laugh. “They’ll do that anyway,” he says.</p>
<p>Tom smiles faintly at him and closes his eyes. “I’m still right,” he mumbles.</p>
<p>“Yes, you are,” Will says through his tears. Then, more quietly, “You always are.”</p>
<p>Tom’s smile softens, and when he looks up at Will there’s something in his eyes Will has never seen before, or maybe just never dared to look for until now: it’s a look of pure wonder, of fondness and affection that can only mean one thing.</p>
<p>“I love you,” Tom tells him softly.</p>
<p>He says it like it’s a simple fact, as if this isn’t the first time he’s telling Will about his feelings, and Will feels his heart stutter in his chest as a rush of affection warms him right to his core. He used to think it would be hard lay himself bare in front of another person and say the words back, but now when he looks at Tom he finds it’s the easiest thing in the world.</p>
<p>“I love you, too,” he whispers.</p>
<p>Tom smiles up at him, soft and warm, and squeezes his hand. For one small, perfect moment, high up in the sky somewhere above the Channel, Will feels at peace.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0030"><h2>30. Chapter 30: Panic Attacks (Prompt No. 18)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tw: panic attacks, swearing, blood</p>
<p>Characters and their codenames:<br/>Leslie - Agent Percival<br/>Elizabeth - Morgana (Kingsman's doctor, Will's sister)<br/>Tom - Agent Galahad<br/>Joe - Agent Lancelot<br/>Will - Merlin</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 30: Panic Attacks (Prompt No. 18)</strong>
</p>
<p>The mansion is mostly dark behind Leslie, a black shadow against an even blacker sky, as Joe safely and smoothly sets down the plane on Kingsman’s runway in the middle of the night. Next to Leslie, Morgana and her team are standing all geared up and ready to take Tom to the infirmary the moment the plane comes to a stop. Leslie glances at her, sees the hard set of her mouth and the worry lines between her eyes, and feels himself tense.</p>
<p>Tom may have finally made it home but it’s more than clear that he isn’t out of the woods yet.</p>
<p>They watch in silence as the plane slows down and finally stops just a few meters away from them. No matter how much Leslie longs to make sure Joe isn’t hurt, he quietly steps out of the way when the stairs are lowered down to allow Morgana and her team to enter the plane and do their job. Maybe two or three minutes go by until they come back out, carrying Tom between them on what Leslie recognizes as the plane’s gurney. Morgana’s expression doesn’t give him any clue as to Tom’s state, but there’s an urgency to her pace that makes his stomach twist up in knots. He only catches a brief glimpse of Tom before they’re gone, swallowed by the night, but it’s enough to see bruises and blood on pale naked skin – more than Leslie’s comfortable with.</p>
<p>He turns his attention back to the plane again. Before he can make the decision to enter it, he sees someone walking out, closely followed by a second person.</p>
<p><em>Joe</em>, Leslie thinks in relief. He would recognize that handsome silhouette everywhere.</p>
<p>Watching their descent carefully, he tries to determine whether one or both of them are injured. He doesn’t like what he sees: Joe’s knuckles gleam awfully red in the runway light, and Will is all but covered in blood. Leslie is about to call another medical team outside when he sees Joe shake his head subtly.</p>
<p>Reluctantly, he lowers his hand from his glasses.</p>
<p>“It’s Tom’s,” Joe murmurs after he pulls Leslie into a quick but no less heartfelt embrace. “We’re both fine. I promise.”</p>
<p>Fine is not the word Leslie would have chosen, given how shaky they both look. He gives Joe another quick once-over before he pointedly stares at his bloody hand. “You will let someone take a look at that.”</p>
<p>It’s a statement, not a question.</p>
<p>“Of course,” Joe says with a smile that is both tired and fond. “Will you take in our guest or is someone else coming?”</p>
<p>Leslie’s eyes flick up to the plane. “Tristan’s already on his way. Do we need to wait until he’s here or is our target safely stowed?”</p>
<p>“I’d say he’s safe,” Joe confirms. “Comfortable, though? Not so much,” he adds with a dark smirk.</p>
<p>“Good enough for me,” Leslie says, not caring one bit whether the asshole that almost succeeded in killing both Joe and Tom is comfortable or not. He trusts Joe’s judgement, trusts that he’s ensured their target can’t escape, and everything else doesn’t matter.</p>
<p>With that out of the way, he looks over Joe’s shoulder at Will who’s been awfully quiet the whole time. “You alright?”</p>
<p>Will’s head snaps up and Leslie almost takes a step back when he sees the haunted look in his eyes. “I’m fine,” Will mutters predicably.</p>
<p>Leslie is barely able to resist the urge to roll his eyes. He hates that phrase.</p>
<p>“Yeah,” he says dryly, “and I’m the Queen of England. Come on, let’s get the both of you inside.”</p>
<p>Leslie plans to steer them straight towards the kitchen to get some water and maybe some food into them. They both look dead on their feet, both physically and emotionally exhausted, and Leslie can’t blame them for that. Missions where loved ones are involved are always the hardest. He knows that better than anyone.</p>
<p>When Joe and Will walk straight past the kitchen though, making a beeline for the medical wing, Leslie doesn’t even try to stop them. He shakes his head in quiet acceptance before he simply grabs two water bottles from the fridge and some power bars from the counter and follows them.</p>
<p>He knows a lost battle when he sees one.</p>
<p>But when he finally catches up with them and finds them pacing trenches into the floor in front of the surgery, he can’t help but snipe, “Would the two of you <em>please</em> sit the fuck down before you keel over?”</p>
<p>Joe stops in his tracks. He gives him a rather guilty look and all but collapses into one of the chairs lining the wall. Reluctantly, Will does the same.</p>
<p>“<em>Thank</em> you,” Leslie breathes.</p>
<p>He hands each of them a water bottle and power bar but while Joe gulps his down as if he’s starving Will only numbly stares at his.</p>
<p>“I don’t think I can eat right now,” he whispers.</p>
<p>For the first time since they arrived back in England, Leslie <em>really</em> looks at him. He takes in the dark shadows beneath Will’s eyes, the blood that’s still all over his hand, face and clothes, the way his whole body is so tense it’s trembling, and feels something in him soften.</p>
<p>He crouches down in front of Will and gently takes the power bar from him.</p>
<p>“Drink something at least,” he says quietly. When Will nods his assent, he opens the cap for him and watches as Will takes a few small sips. It’s not much, but it’s <em>something</em> and Leslie won’t push for more. He knows Will. He knows that force won’t help here. The only way he’ll get more water into Will is to remind him every now and then to drink something.</p>
<p>So Leslie places the bottle on the floor where Will can reach it easily before he sits down on the empty chair between Joe and Will. Almost instinctively, he reaches out to intertwine his fingers with Joe’s. Joe’s head lifts up and Leslie gives him a small smile.</p>
<p>“He’ll be alright,” he says quietly.</p>
<p>Joe nods. “He better be.”</p>
<p>Silence settles over them and they wait. The clock above the surgery ticks relentlessly, a monotone, boring sound, and yet it’s the only thing apart from the coldness of Joe’s hand that Leslie can focus on. Every now and then he glances over at Will, quietly urging him to pick up the water bottle and drink, before he goes back to watching the clock.</p>
<p>One hour passes, then another and Leslie feels his eyes falling shut. With a groan, he sits up straighter and tries to blink the sleepiness away. It only works a little. He’s about to remind Will of his water bottle once more when the expression on Will’s face stops him because Will is staring at the closed doors of the surgery with a terribly lost look in his eyes, and when he takes a stuttering breath that is way too shallow all the alarm bells in Leslie’s head start ringing. He’s seen that look before. Hell, he’s worn it himself when Joe went missing. He remembers what it felt like to be unable to breathe.</p>
<p>“Will?” he asks, not even trying to hide his worry.</p>
<p>Will slowly shakes his head. He takes in another ragged breath. His eyes never leave the doors, never lose the thousand yard stare.</p>
<p>“Will, hey,” Joe now says, leaning over Leslie to be closer. “You have to breathe, okay?”</p>
<p>Will blinks and finally tears his gaze away from the doors. He tries to take a breath but nothing happens. With every gasp for air he becomes more desperate, more panicked as he claws at his throat, and all Leslie can think is, <em>Shit</em>.</p>
<p>He’s in front of Will before he even makes the conscious decision to move.</p>
<p>“Hey,” he says as calmly as he can. “Tom is in the best of hands, right? If anyone can help him, it’s your sister. She’s never let an agent die in her care before, and she’s not going to start now, okay?”</p>
<p>As gently as possible, he pulls Will’s hand away from his throat and places it on his own chest instead. “So just breathe with me, Will. In and out. I know you can do this. You showed me how, remember? In and out. That’s it.”</p>
<p>Leslie ignores the tearstains on Will’s face, ignores the panicked heartbeat he can feel fluttering underneath the delicate skin of Will’s wrist under his fingertips, and instead focuses on the way Will’s chest slowly but surely starts to rise and fall in a normal pattern again.</p>
<p>“In and out,” he keeps murmuring.</p>
<p>“That’s it,” Joe tells Will quietly. “You’re both doing great.”</p>
<p>Leslie feels his own eyes well up at the unexpected praise and blindly reaches for Joe’s hand with the one not currently holding Will’s palm against his chest. A silent thank you. Joe grips it tightly, reassuringly, and Leslie knows he understands.</p>
<p>They stay that way until Will’s breathing has almost returned to normal. When Will breaks away from them and roughly wipes his eyes, Leslie lets him. He gives Will a moment to gather himself before he asks, “Better?”</p>
<p>Will shakes his head. “I’m sorry,” he whispers. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”</p>
<p>Leslie exchanges a look with Joe. When Joe gives him a subtle nod, he draws back, knowing Joe will handle this.</p>
<p>“Nothing is wrong with you,” he tells Will gently but firmly. “You just worry too much.”</p>
<p>Will lets out a harsh laugh. “Tom said the same thing.”</p>
<p>“Then listen to him,” Joe urges. “Don’t think about the what ifs. Don’t imagine all the horrible ways this day could turn out. Just – think about what you’ll do once Tom wakes up.”</p>
<p>Will’s eyes get that far away look again, only this time instead of quiet horror there’s a faint smile on his face. Joe’s face relaxes with a knowing look, and Leslie looks back and forth between them, obviously having missed something important.</p>
<p>“That’s better,” Joe murmurs quietly.</p>
<p>Will lowers his gaze, oddly shy, and a hundred light bulbs turn on in Leslie’s mind. He can’t believe he missed this. He can’t believe –</p>
<p>“Thank you,” Will says. He turns to look at Leslie. “Both of you.”</p>
<p>Joe pats him on his shoulder. “Any time.”</p>
<p>He returns to his seat and Leslie pulls his aching body up from the floor as well. He plops himself down and turns to Joe.</p>
<p>“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me they finally got their heads out of their asses!” he whispers so Will doesn’t hear him. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about the 50 quid you owe me, Blake.”</p>
<p>Joe stares at him. “Seriously?”</p>
<p>Leslie nods. “A bet is a bet.”</p>
<p>“You’re impossible,” Joe tells him. He’s smiling, though, the sadness in his eyes chased away by barely held back amusement for a brief moment, and that’s all Leslie could have asked for.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I can't believe there's only one more chapter to go!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0031"><h2>31. Chapter 31: Exhaustion (Prompt No. 23)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tw: swearing</p>
<p>Characters and their codenames: <br/>Elizabeth - Morgana (Kingsman's doctor, Will's sister)<br/>Joe - Agent Lancelot<br/>Will - Merlin<br/>Tom - Agent Galahad<br/>Leslie - Agent Percival<br/>Erinmore - Arthur (Head of Kingsman)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 31: Exhaustion (Prompt No. 23)</strong>
</p>
<p>“Has he been here this whole time?”</p>
<p>Elizabeth glances up from her notepad to look at Joe. “Good morning to you to, Agent Lancelot,” she says rather pointedly.</p>
<p>Joe has the decency to at least pretend to look a little sheepish. “Good morning, Morgana.”</p>
<p>“That’s better,” Elizabeth says, finally putting down her notepad. She follows his gaze to her brother. “And to answer your question: yes, Will hasn’t left Tom’s side since you came back from Germany.”</p>
<p>Joe lets out a low whistle. “Now I feel like a shitty brother.”</p>
<p>Elizabeth snorts. “Because you let Leslie drag you home for a good night’s rest instead of staying here for another ten hours of pointless bedside vigil?” She shakes her head. “Don’t. You did the right thing, Joe. Trust me.”</p>
<p>“Then why didn’t you make Will leave?” Joe asks with a raised eyebrow.</p>
<p>Why didn’t she, indeed.</p>
<p>Elizabeth’s mind goes back to last night. She remembers Leslie reaching for Joe’s hand, remembers how he whispered something into Joe’s ear before he gently but firmly pulled him away from Tom’s bedside. Then there was Will, fast asleep in one of the uncomfortable chairs she’d asked to have replaced the moment she became Morgana a few years ago but was denied. Even just looking at him made her neck hurt, so as gently as she could she’d shaken him awake.</p>
<p>“Will?” she asked quietly so as not to startle him. “Time to go home and get some sleep in an actual bed.”</p>
<p>Will blinked up at her in sleepy confusion for a long moment before his eyes fell back on Tom. He got that stubborn look on his face she remembered from a hundred different childhood arguments before he reached for Tom’s hand. “I’m good here.”</p>
<p>Not having expected a different answer, Elizabeth sighed. “You’re really not.” When Will ignored her, she sat down next to him on the chair Joe had just vacated. “You’re doing neither yourself nor him any favors if you drop dead from exhaustion, Will.”</p>
<p>She saw his hold on Tom’s hand tighten before his eyes met hers. “I can’t leave him, Beth,” he whispered. “Not now, not after –“ He stopped abruptly and Elizabeth’s heart went out to him.</p>
<p>“Not after you told him you love him you mean?” she suggested gently. At Will’s surprised look, she added, “Joe told me.”</p>
<p>“Of course he did,” Will muttered with a shake of his head before his gaze settled on Tom’s resting face once more. “I almost lost him, Beth. I … I can’t go now, not before he wakes up. Please don’t make me.”</p>
<p>It was those last words that made her change her mind. Seeing her brother like this, so quietly distraught and upset, brought back memories from the time their parents died. Neither of them had gotten to say goodbye back then, and even though she had made her peace with that a long time ago, she knew Will sometimes still struggled with it.</p>
<p>Looking at him now, seeing him hold onto the most important person in his life in the only way he could, brought things into perspective for her. What did it matter if Tom was already out of the woods and likely to wake up the next day? If Will wanted to stay, wanted to be here in case anything happened, who was she to deny him that after all he’s been already through in his young life?</p>
<p>“At least put your head down on the bed before you fall asleep again,” she finally told him with a sigh.</p>
<p>Will’s grateful smile felt like balm on her weary soul.</p>
<p>When Elizabeth blinks the memories away she finds that Joe is still looking at her expectantly.</p>
<p>“Well?” he asks.</p>
<p>She clears her throat. “I let Will stay because he’s old enough to make his own bad decisions.”</p>
<p>Joe frowns at her. “So am I.”</p>
<p>“Yes,” she agrees, “but you have Leslie to keep you in line.” She pauses to mull over her words. “God, I can’t believe I just said that,” she mutters with a shake of her head before her eyes meet Joe’s again. “You didn’t miss anything, anyway.”</p>
<p>Joe motions to Tom’s bed. “He didn’t wake up?”</p>
<p>“Not yet,” Elizabeth says. She checks Tom’s stats on her notepad once more. “Shouldn’t be long now, though. His brain activity has been spiking all morning.”</p>
<p>“Still no signs of swelling?” Joe asks. He’s wringing his hands nervously in front of him and if Elizabeth didn’t know how genuinely worried he was for his brother she would roll his eyes at him.</p>
<p>“Still no signs of swelling,” she confirms. Pointedly, she adds, “Just like yesterday.”</p>
<p>Joe doesn’t let that deter him. “And the stab wound?”</p>
<p>“Healing nicely,” Elizabeth says. “No signs of infection at all. He got really lucky.”</p>
<p>Joe huffs out a laugh. “Luck has been his middle name from the moment he could walk.” His eyes turn soft with remembrance. “You wouldn’t believe all the trouble he got himself into when he was a kid. I can’t even count the number of times he fell out of the cherry trees at home, or lost his balance while walking on the fences. Once, he even got caught in the middle of a cow stampede. And yet despite all that he somehow never broke a single bone in his body.”</p>
<p>Elizabeth gives him a wry smile. “Lucky bastard.”</p>
<p>Joe nods. “Like I said.” He pauses. “How was Will as a child?”</p>
<p>Elizabeth ponders the question for a moment. “Not much different than he is now,” she finally says. “Quiet, shy. A bookworm. Never got into any trouble.” She glances at Joe. “I’m glad he found someone to balance that out.”</p>
<p>Joe gives her a sideways look. “Guess that makes you my sister in law now” he muses. “Does that mean I get to call you Beth?”</p>
<p>Elizabeth gives him a very unimpressed look. “Over your dead body, Blake.”</p>
<p>Joe chuckles and holds up his hands in mock defense. “Was worth a try.”</p>
<p>“Not really.”</p>
<p>Before Joe can come up with a witty retort, the rhythmic beating of Tom’s heart monitor suddenly changes. It doesn’t go crazy but his heart rate clearly increases. Elizabeth feels herself smile.</p>
<p>“He’s waking up.”</p>
<p>She’s content to watch from the sidelines and monitor Tom through her notepad but Joe steps closer to the bed and reaches for Tom’s left hand, the one that’s not currently held in a death grip by Will.</p>
<p>“Tom? Can you hear me?” he asks.</p>
<p>Slowly, Tom’s eyes begin to flutter and Elizabeth turns to dim the lights a little. His headache, she predicts, will be bad enough even without the brightness of the lights. Despite that, Tom still squints and groans in quiet discomfort when he finally opens his eyes. He blinks several times to try to bring Joe’s face into focus.</p>
<p>“Joe?” he asks groggily.</p>
<p>The smile on Joe’s face could have lit up the room, and Elizabeth is glad her glasses are streaming this scene right to Will’s office where Leslie is currently acting as interim Merlin once more – his idea, this time, to keep Arthur from breathing down Will’s neck while Tom recovers.</p>
<p>Words appear in the corner of her glasses. <em>Tell little Blake: welcome back to the land of the living</em>.</p>
<p>Elizabeth almost snorts and firmly keeps her mouth shut.</p>
<p>“Hey, little brother,” Joe says softly. “It’s good to have you back.”</p>
<p>Tom frowns at him. “I wasn’t gone that long,” he mumbles. “Was I?”</p>
<p>Joe chuckles fondly. “It was long enough, trust me,” he says.</p>
<p>“He’s right,” Elizabeth agrees, finally stepping forward. “A few hours longer and you would have bled out internally.” She lets Tom take that in for a moment before she offers him a smile. “Leslie says hi, by the way.”</p>
<p>Confused, Tom looks around, presumably searching for Leslie. His eyes land on Will instead, and his whole face softens when he sees his tousled hair and sleeping face. It’s beautiful to watch how his unguarded affection smooths out the tense lines between his eyebrows and brings a little color back to his face.</p>
<p>“He looks exhausted,” Tom whispers, unable to tear his gaze away.</p>
<p>“That’s because he refused to leave your side for the last two days,” Elizabeth tells him.</p>
<p>“He’s an idiot,” Tom whispers. His smile is so fond it makes her feel like she’s intruding on a private moment.</p>
<p>And maybe she is, she thinks, because Joe meets her eyes for a brief moment before he stands up and gives his brother’s hand a gentle squeeze. “We’ll let you rest, okay?”</p>
<p>Tom absentmindedly nods, and Elizabeth doesn’t protest when Joe takes her by the arm and gently steers her out of the room. The last thing she sees is how Tom reaches over to card his fingers through Will’s hair, gently coaxing him awake, and Will’s befuddled expression when he finally lifts his head and looks at Tom.</p>
<p>“You’re awake,” he whispers in awe as if he doesn’t quite trust his eyes yet.</p>
<p>“More or less,” Tom says. Then his smile softens. “Good morning, love.”</p>
<p>The door falls shut behind her, and when Elizabeth meets Joe’s eyes in the hallway in front of her infirmary she can’t help but think that it’s going to be a good morning, indeed.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So this is it. The final chapter. This was my first time participating in Whumptober and it's still a bit surreal that I actually managed to post a new chapter / prompt every day. I'm gonna miss this. </p>
<p>I want to say thank you for everyone who's read this story and left kudos and / or comments! Special thanks go out to MagicalTear who left comments on every single chapter! Interacting with you and sharing story ideas this past month has been nothing short of amazing! Reading your comments always made my day and I can't thank you enough for sharing your thoughts with me! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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